Deterministic barcoding for spatial omics sequencing

ABSTRACT

Provided herein, in some embodiments, are compositions and methods for producing a molecular expression map of a biological sample using Deterministic Barcoding in Tissue for spatial omics sequencing (DBiT-seq).

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S.provisional application No. 62/908,270, filed Sep. 30, 2019, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Spatial gene expression heterogeneity plays an essential role in a rangeof biological, physiological and pathological processes but it remains ascientific challenge to conduct high-spatial-resolution, genome-wide,unbiased biomolecular profiling over a large tissue area.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a platform technology, referred toherein as Deterministic Barcoding in Tissue for spatial omics sequencing(DBiT-seq). This high-spatial resolution (HSR) technology may be used,as described herein, to generate multi-omic maps in intact tissuesections, offering at least the following advantages over currenttechnologies: (1) high spatial resolution; (2) high throughput cellprofiling capability; and (3) true-omics sensitivity. The presentdisclosure demonstrates how to design a microfluidics-based detectionsystem satisfying each of these criteria by utilizing microfluidicchips, for example, as a polynucleotide reagent delivery system. In thismodality, downstream spatial reconstruction is enabled by confiningreagents labelled with different polynucleotide barcodes to specificspatial regions of the tissue to be mapped. The spatial resolutionachieved with the device and methods provided herein are sufficient todistinguish the contributions to analyte profiles (target biomoleculesin a region of interest) from single cells (e.g., mammalian cellsbetween 5-20 μm in size). Further, the high-throughput HSR technologyprovided herein matches the profiling capability of non-spatialtechniques, which routinely profile tens of thousands of cells per run.This technology is applicable to sectioned tissue and can be used to mapa large area per run in order to map many cells per run. Further still,the HSR technology of the present disclosure can be used to target anentire class of coding RNA molecules, such as messenger RNA (mRNA), andnot merely a targeted panel of RNA molecules, which is particularlyuseful generating transcriptomic maps.

Parallel microfluidic channels (10 μm, 25 μm, or 50 μm in width) areused, in some aspects, to deliver molecular barcodes to the surface of afixed (e.g., formaldehyde or formalin fixed) tissue slide in a spatiallyconfined manner. Crossflow of two sets of barcodes A1-A50 and B1-B50followed by ligation in situ yields a 2D mosaic of tissue pixels, eachcontaining a unique combination of full barcode AiBj (i=1-50, j=1-50).It permits simultaneous barcoding of mRNAs, proteins, or even otheromics on a fixed tissue slide, enabling the construction of ahigh-spatial-resolution multi-omics atlas by next generation sequencing(NGS). Applying it to mouse embryo tissues revealed all major tissuetypes in early organogenesis, distinguished brain microvascularnetworks, discovered new developmental patterning in forebrain, anddemonstrated the ability to detect a single-cell-layer of melanocyteslining an optical vesicle and asymmetric expression of RORB and ALDH1A1within it, presumably associated with the onset of retinal and lens,respectively. Automated feature identification using spatialdifferential expression further identified dozens of developmentalfeatures. DBiT-seq is a highly versatile technology that may become auniversal method for spatial barcoding and sequencing of a range ofmolecular information at a high resolution and the genome scale. It canbe readily adopted by biologists with no experience in microfluidics oradvanced imaging and could be quickly disseminated for broader impactsin a variety of fields including developmental biology, cancer biology,neuroscience, and clinical pathology.

Some aspects of the disclosure provide a method, comprising: (a)delivering to a region of interest in a fixed section of a mammaliantissue mounted on a substrate a first set of barcoded polynucleotidesthat bind to nucleic acids of the fixed tissue section, wherein thefirst set of barcoded polynucleotides is delivered through a firstmicrofluidic device clamped to the region of interest, wherein the firstmicrofluidic device comprises 5-50 variable width microchannels, eachhaving (i) an inlet port and an outlet port, (ii) a width of 50-150 μmat the inlet port and at the outlet port, and (iii) a width of 10-50 μmat the region of interest; (b) delivering to the region of interestreverse transcription reagents to produce cDNAs linked to barcodedpolynucleotides of the first set; (c) delivering to the region ofinterest a second set of barcoded polynucleotides, wherein the secondset of barcoded polynucleotides is delivered through a secondmicrofluidic device clamped to the region of interest, wherein thesecond microfluidic device comprises 5-50 variable width microchannels,each having (i) an inlet port and an outlet port, (ii) a width of 50-150μm at the inlet port and at the outlet port, and (iii) a width of 10-50μm at the region of interest, wherein the second microfluidic device isoriented on the region of interest perpendicular to the direction of themicrochannels of the first microfluidic device; (d) delivering to theregion of interest ligation reagents to join barcoded polynucleotides ofthe first set to barcoded polynucleotides of the second set; (e) imagingthe region of interest to produce a sample image; (f) delivering to theregion of interest lysis buffer or denaturation reagents to produce alysed or denatured tissue sample; and (g) extracting cDNA from the lysedor denatured tissue sample.

Other aspects of the present disclosure provide a method, comprising:(a) delivering to a region of interest in a fixed section of a mammaliantissue mounted on a substrate binder-DNA tag conjugates that comprise(i) a binder molecule that specifically binds to a protein of interestand (ii) a DNA tag, wherein the DNA tag comprises a binder barcode and apolyadenylation (polyA) sequence; (b) delivering to the region ofinterest a first set of barcoded polynucleotides that bind to nucleicacids of the fixed tissue section, wherein the first set of barcodedpolynucleotides is delivered through a first microfluidic device clampedto the region of interest, optionally wherein the first microfluidicdevice comprises 5-50 variable width microchannels, each having (i) aninlet port and an outlet port, (ii) a width of 50-150 μm at the inletport and at the outlet port, and (iii) a width of 10-50 μm at the regionof interest; (c) delivering to the region of interest reversetranscription reagents to produce cDNAs linked to barcodedpolynucleotides of the first set; (d) delivering to the region ofinterest a second set of barcoded polynucleotides, wherein the secondset of barcoded polynucleotides is delivered through a secondmicrofluidic device clamped to the region of interest, optionallywherein the second microfluidic device comprises 5-50 variable widthmicrochannels, each having (i) an inlet port and an outlet port, (ii) awidth of 50-150 μm at the inlet port and at the outlet port, and (iii) awidth of 10-50 μm at the region of interest, wherein the secondmicrofluidic device is oriented on the region of interest perpendicularto the direction of the microchannels of the first microfluidic device;(e) delivering to the region of interest ligation reagents to joinbarcoded polynucleotides of the first set to barcoded polynucleotides ofthe second set; (f) imaging the region of interest to produce a sampleimage; (g) delivering to the region of interest lysis buffer ordenaturation reagents to produce a lysed or denatured tissue sample; and(h) extracting cDNA from the lysed or denatured tissue sample.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises sequencing the cDNA toproduce cDNA reads.

In some embodiments, the sequencing comprises template switching thecDNAs to add a second PCR handle end sequence at an end opposite fromthe first PCR handle end sequence, amplifying the cDNAs (e.g.,polymerase chain reaction (PCR)), producing sequencing constructs viatagmentation (the initial step in library prep where unfragmented DNA iscleaved and tagged for analysis), and sequencing the sequencingconstructs (e.g., via next generation sequencing (NGS)) to produce thecDNA reads.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises constructing a spatialmolecular expression map of the tissue section by matching the spatiallyaddressable barcoded conjugates to corresponding cDNA reads.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises identifying theanatomical location of the nucleic acids by correlating the spatialmolecular expression map to the sample image.

In some embodiments, the fixed tissue section mounted on a slide isproduced by: sectioning a formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE)tissue, optionally into a 5-10 μm section and mounting the tissuesection onto a substrate, optionally a poly-L-lysine-coated slide;applying to the tissue section a wash solution, optionally a xylenesolution, to deparaffinize the tissue section; applying to the tissuesection a rehydration solution to rehydrate the tissue section; applyingto the tissue section an enzymatic solution, optionally a proteinase Ksolution, to permeabilize the tissue section; and applying formalin tothe tissue section to post-fix the tissue section.

In some embodiments, the first and/or second microfluidic device isfabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).

In some embodiments, the first and/or second microfluidic devicecomprises 40 to 60, optionally 50 microchannels.

In some embodiments, each microchannel of the first and secondmicrofluidic device has a width of 10 μm and a height of 12-15 μm, awidth of 25 μm and height of 17-22 μm, or a width of 50 μm and a heightof 20-100 μm.

In some embodiments, delivery of the first set of barcodedpolynucleotides is delivered through the first microfluidic device usinga negative pressure system and/or delivery of the second set of barcodedpolynucleotides is delivered through the second microfluidic deviceusing a negative pressure system.

In some embodiments, the lysis buffer or denaturation reagents aredelivered directly to the tissue section, optionally through a hole in adevice clamped to the substrate, wherein the hole is positioned directlyabove the region of interest.

In some embodiments, the barcoded polynucleotides of the first setcomprise a ligation linker sequence, a spatial barcode sequence, and apolyT sequence (e.g., ˜1-100, e.g., 25, 50, 75, 100 contiguous thymine(T) nucleotides).

In some embodiments, the barcoded polynucleotides of the second setcomprise a ligation linker sequence, a spatial barcode sequence, aunique molecular identifier (UMI) sequence, and a first PCR handle endsequence, optionally wherein the first PCR handle end sequence isterminally functionalized with biotin.

In some embodiments, the first and/or second set of barcodedpolynucleotides comprises at least 50 barcoded polynucleotides.

In some embodiments, the binder molecule is an antibody, optionallyselected from whole antibodies, Fab antibody fragments, F(ab′)₂ antibodyfragments, monospecific Fab₂ fragments, bispecific Fab₂ fragments,trispecific Fab₃ fragments, single chain variable fragments (scFvs),bispecific diabodies, trispecific diabodies, scFv-Fc molecules, andminibodies.

In some embodiments, the nucleic acids of the biological sample areselected from (i) ribonucleic acids (RNAs), optionally messenger RNAs(mRNAs), and (ii) deoxyribonucleic acids (DNAs), optionally genomic DNAs(gDNAs).

In some embodiments, (i) barcoded polynucleotides of the second set arebound to a universal ligation linker, or (ii) the method furthercomprises delivering to the biological sample a universal ligationlinker sequence, wherein the universal ligation linker comprises asequence complementary to the ligation linker sequence of the barcodedpolynucleotides of the first set and comprises a sequence complementaryto the ligation linker sequence of the barcoded polynucleotides of thesecond set.

In some embodiments, the imaging is with an optical or fluorescencemicroscope.

In some embodiments, the substrate is a microscope slide, optionally aglass microscope slide, optionally poly-amine-coated, and optionallyhaving dimensions of 25 mm×75 mm.

The entire contents of Liu, Y., Yang, M., Deng, Y., Su, G., Guo, C. C.,Zhang, D., Kim, D., Bai, Z., Xiao, Y. & Fan, R. High-Spatial-ResolutionMulti-Omics Atlas Sequencing of Mouse Embryos via DeterministicBarcoding in Tissue. bioRxiv, 788992(biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/788992v2) (Aug. 3, 2019) is incorporatedherein by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. Spatial parameters for microfluidics-based spatial imagingdetectors.

FIG. 2. Graph depicting device performance v. channel width. This imagedepicts the tradeoff between spatial resolution and mappable area inmicrofluidic detectors compared to biological benchmarks. It is assumedthat the tissue has been mounted on a standard 25 mm×75 mm microscopeslide, as is standard practice in pathology and there is room thereforefor approximately 50 inlets, outlets, and associated channel routingarea.

FIG. 3. Example schedule for dynamically altering microchannel width.Dynamically altering microchannel width in the 10 μm device reduces theincidence of blockages due to dust and to reduce overall device flowresistance per unit length (estimated via resistance proportional to12/(1−0.63hω) (1/h{circumflex over ( )}3ω)). Drastically larger channelcross sections reduce flow resistance, enabling gentle vacuum pullingand therefore less chance of tissue damage or clogged channels. Otherschedules are possible, following the general principle that channelsshould stay as wide as possible for as long as possible.

FIG. 4. Three design innovations which greatly improved deviceperformance and reduced failure rates.

FIGS. 5A-5C. Design of the DBiT-seq platform. (FIG. 5A) Schematicworkflow. A formaldehyde-fixed tissue slide is used as the startingmaterial, which is incubated with a cocktail of antibody-derived DNAtags (ADTs) that recognize a panel of proteins of interest. Acustom-designed PDMS microfluidic device with 50 parallel microchannelsin the center of the chip is aligned and placed on the tissue slide tointroduce the 1st set of barcodes A1 to A50. Each barcode is tetheredwith a ligation linker and an oligo-dT sequence for binding the poly-Atail of mRNAs or ADTs. Then, reverse transcription (RT) is conducted insitu to yield cDNAs which are covalently linked to barcodes A1-A50.Afterwards, this microfluidic chip is removed and another microfluidicchip with 50 parallel microchannels perpendicular to those in the firstmicrofluidic chip is placed on the tissue slide to introduce the 2nd setof DNA barcodes B1-B50. These barcodes contain a ligation linker, aunique molecular identifier (UMI) and a PCR handle. After introducingbarcodes B1-B50 and a universal complementary ligation linker throughthe second microfluidic chip, the barcodes A and B are joined throughligation and then the intersection region of microfluidic channels inthe first and second PDMS chips defines a distinct pixel with a uniquecombination of A and B, giving rise to a 2D array of spatial barcodesAiBj (i=1-50, j=1-50). Afterwards, the second PDMS chip is removed andthe tissue remains intact while spatially barcoded for all mRNAs and theproteins of interest. The barcoded tissue is imaged under an optical orfluorescence microscope to visualize individual pixels. Finally, cDNAsare extracted from the tissue slide, template switched to incorporateanother PCR handle, and amplified by PCR for preparation of sequencinglibrary via tagmentation. A paired-end sequencing is performed to readthe spatial barcodes (AiBj) and cDNA sequences from mRNAs and ADTs.Computational reconstruction of a spatial mRNA or protein expression mapis realized by matching the spatial barcodes AiBj to the correspondingcDNA reads using UMIs. The spatial omics map can be correlated to thetissue image taken during or after microfluidic barcoding to identifythe spatial location of individual pixels and the corresponding tissuemorphology. (FIG. 5B) Schematic of the biochemistry protocol to addspatial barcodes to a tissue slide. Proteins of interest are labeledwith antibody DNA tags (ADTs), each of which consists of a uniqueantibody barcode (15mer, see Table 1) and a poly-A tail. Barcode A1-A50contains a ligation linker (15mer), a unique spatial barcode Ai (i=1-50,8mer, see Table 3), and a poly-T sequence (16mer), which detects mRNAsand proteins through binding to poly-A tails. After introducing barcodesA1-A50 to the tissue slide, reverse transcription is conducted in situto generate cDNAs from mRNAs as well as antibody barcodes. BarcodeB1-B50 consists of a ligation linker (15mer), a unique spatial barcodeBj (j=1-50, 8mer, see Table 3), a unique molecular identifier (UMI)(10mer), and a PCR handle (22mer) terminally functionalized with biotin,which facilitates the purification in the later steps usingstreptavidin-coated magnetic beads. When the barcodes B1-B50 areintroduced to the tissue sample that is already barcoded with A1-A50using an orthogonal microfluidic delivery, a complementary ligationlinker is also introduced and initiates the covalent ligation ofbarcodes A and B, giving rise to a 2D array of spatially distinctbarcodes AiBj (i=1-50 and j=1-50). (FIG. 5C) Detailed microfluidicdevice design (left panel) and barcoding chemistry protocol (rightpanel). Left panel: fresh frozen tissue sections were first allowed towarm to room temperature for 10 minutes. Then, 4% Formaldehyde wasadded, and tissue was fixed for 20 minutes at room temperature. Afterfixation, a cocktail of 22 antibody-DNA tags (ADTs) were added andincubated at 4° C. for 30 minutes. After washing three times with PBS,1st PDMS chip was attached to the glass slide. Barcode A (A1-A50) alongwith reverse transcription mixture was flowed through each channel.After reverse transcription, the 1st PDMS chip was removed and a 2ndPDMS was attached. Ligation solution along with Barcode B (B1-B50) wasflowed into each channel. When finished, the 2nd PDMS chip was removedand a PDMS gasket was attached to the glass slide. Lysis solution wasadded into the gasket and the lysate was collected. cDNA and ADT derivedcDNA were extracted using streptavidin coated magnetic beads. Templateswitch and PCR were then performed. The sequencing library was finallybuilt with standard tagmentation. Right panel: DNA barcode A consists ofa poly T region, a barcode region and a ligation region. The poly Tregion will recognize the poly A tail of mRNA and ADTs. DNA Barcode Bconsists of a ligation region, a barcode region, a UMI region and a PCRprimer handle region. During ligation process, the ligation region willbe ligated to the ligation region of barcode A. The cDNA product willthen be template-switched. The final product is further amplified byPCR.

FIG. 6. Microfluidic device designs for HSR. Top—various failure modesinduced by incorrect choice of channel aspect ratios. Bottom—successfulflow resulting from proper choice of channel aspect ratios.

FIGS. 7A-7G. Validation of DBiT. (FIG. 7A) Microfluidic device used inDBiT-seq. A series of microfluidic chips were fabricated with 50parallel microfluidic channels in the center that are 50 μm, 25 μm, or10 μm in width, respectively. The PDMS chip containing 50 parallelchannels is placed directly on a tissue slide and the center region isclamped using two acrylic plates and screws to apply the pressing forcein a controlled manner. All 50 inlets are open holes (˜2 mm in diameter)capable of holding ˜13 μL of solution. Different barcode reagents arepipetted to these inlets and drawn into the microchannels by vacuumapplied to the roof cap of the outlets situated on the other side of thePDMS chip. (FIG. 7B) Validation of spatial barcoding using fluorescentDNA probes. The images show parallel lines of Cy3-labelled barcode A(left panel) on the tissue slide defined by the first flow, the squarepixels of FITC-labeled barcode B (right panel) corresponding to theintersection of the first and the second flows, and the overlay of bothfluorescence colors (middle). Because barcode B is ligated to theimmobilized barcode A in an orthogonal direction, it is detectable onlyat the intersection of the first set (A1-A50) and the second set(B1-B50) of microchannels. Channel width=50 μm. (FIG. 7C) Validation ofleak-free flow barcoding using a layer of cells cultured on a glassslide. HUVECs grown on a glass slide were stained by4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) during the 1st flow and anti-humanVE-cadherin during the 2nd flow. As shown in the enlarged figures,fluorescence staining was confined within the channels. Scale bar=20 μm.(FIG. 7D) Confocal microscopy image of a tissue slide stained withfluorescent DNA barcode A. The 3D stacked image shows no leakage betweenadjacent channels throughput the tissue thickness. Scale bar=20 μm.(FIG. 7E) Validation of spatial barcoding for 10 μm pixels. A tissueslide was subjected to spatial barcoding and the resultant pixels werevisualized by optical (upper left) and fluorescent imaging (upper right)of the same tissue sample using FITC-labeled barcode B. Pressingmicrofluidic channels against the tissue section resulted in a slightdeformation of the tissue matrix, which allowed for directly visualizingthe topography of individual tissue pixels. Enlarged views (low panels)further show discrete barcoded tissue pixels with 10 μm pixel size.(FIG. 7F) Qualification of the cross-channel diffusion distance, themeasured size of pixels, and the number of cells per pixel. Quantitativeanalysis of the line profile revealed the diffusion of DNA oligomersthrough the dense tissue matrix is as small as 0.9 μm, which wasobtained with the 10 μm-wide microchannels with the application of anacrylic clamp. The measured pixel size agreed with the microchannelsize. Using DAPI, a fluorescent dye for nuclear DNA staining, the numberof cells in a pixel can be identified. The average cell number is 1.7 ina 10 μm pixel and 25.1 in a 50 μm pixel. (FIG. 7AG) Gene and UMI countdistribution. DBiT-seq is compared to Slide-seq, ST, and thecommercialized ST (Visium) with different spot/pixel sizes.Formaldehyde-fixed mouse embryo tissue slides were used in DBiT-seq.Fresh frozen mouse brain tissues were used in Slide-seq, ST, and Visium.

FIGS. 8A-8F. Spatial multi-omic atlas of whole mouse embryos. (FIG. 8A)Pan-mRNA and pan-protein-panel spatial expression maps (pixel size 50μm) reconstructed from DBiT-seq, alongside the H&E image from anadjacent tissue section. Whole transcriptome pan-mRNA map correlatedwith anatomic tissue morphology and density. (FIG. 8B) Comparison to“pseudo bulk” RNA-seq data. Four embryo samples (E10) analyzed byDBiT-seq correctly situated in the UMAP in relation to those analyzed bysingle-cell RNA-seq (Cao et al., 2019) in terms of the developmentalstage. (FIG. 8C) Unsupervised clustering analysis and spatial pattern.Left: UMAP showing the clusters of tissue pixel transcriptomes. Middle:spatial distribution of the clusters. Right: overlay of spatial clustermap and tissue image (H&E). Because the H&E staining was conducted on anadjacent tissue section, minor differences were anticipated. (FIG. 8D)Gene Ontology (GO) analysis of all 11 clusters. Selected GO terms arehighlighted. (FIG. 8E) Anatomic annotation of major tissue regions basedon the H&E image. (FIG. 8F) Correlation between mRNAs and proteins ineach of the anatomically annotated tissue regions. The averageexpression levels of individual mRNAs and cognate proteins are compared.(FIG. 8G) Spatial expression of four individual proteins and cognatemRNA transcripts in a whole mouse embryo. These are Notch1 (Notch1),CD63 (Cd63), Pan-Endothelial-Cell Antigen (Plvap), and EpCAM (Epcam).Multi-omic DBiT-seq allows for head-to-head comparison of a panel ofproteins and the expression of cognate genes. It shows consistence aswell as discordance between mRNA and protein for selected pairs, but thespatial resolution is adequate to resolve the fine structures inspecific organs. (FIG. 8H) Correlation between mRNAs and proteins inanatomically annotated tissue regions). The average expression levels ofindividual mRNAs and cognate proteins in each of the thirteenanatomically annotated tissue regions are compared. (FIG. 8I) Comparisonto immunofluorescence tissue staining. Pan-endothelial antigen (PECA),which marks the formation of embryonic vasculature, is expressedextensively at this stage (E.10), consistent with the protein and mRNAexpression revealed by DBiT-seq. EpCAM, an epithelial marker, alreadyshow up but in several highly localized regions, which were alsoidentified by DBiT-seq (both mRNA and protein). P2RY12 is a marker formicroglia in CNS, which depicts the spatial distribution of the neuralsystem.

FIGS. 9A-9G. Spatial multi-omics mapping of an embryonic mouse brain.(FIG. 9A) Bright field optical image of the brain region of a mouseembryo (E10). (FIG. 9B) Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) image of the mouseembryo brain region (E10). It was obtained on an adjacent tissuesection. (FIG. 9C) Pan-mRNA and pan-protein-panel spatial expressionmaps of the brain region of a mouse embryo (E10) obtained with 25 μmpixel size. The spatial pattern of whole transcriptome (pan-mRNA)correlated with cell density and morphology in the tissue. (FIG. 9DSpatial expression of four individual proteins: CD63, Pan-endothelialcell antigen (PECA), EpCAM (CD326) and MAdCAM-1. Spatial proteinexpression heatmaps revealed brain tissue region-specific expression andthe brain microvascular network. (FIG. 9E) Validation byimmunofluorescence staining. Spatial expression of EpCAM and PECAreconstructed from DBiT-seq and the immunofluorescence image of the sameproteins were superimposed onto the H&E image for comparison. A highlylocalized expression pattern of EpCAM is in strong correlation withimmunostaining as seen by the line profile. The network ofmicrovasculature revealed by PECA in DBiT-seq is correlated with theimmunostaining image. (FIG. 9F) Gene expression heatmap of 11 clustersobtained by unsupervised clustering analysis. Top ranked differentiallyexpressed genes are shown in each cluster. (FIG. 9G) Spatial map ofclusters 1, 2, 5 and 9. GO analysis identified the major biologicalprocesses within each cluster, in agreement with anatomical annotation.

FIGS. 10A-10N. Mapping gene expression in early eye development at thesingle-cell-layer resolution. (FIG. 10A) Bright field image of a wholemouse embryo tissue section (E10). Red indicates pan-mRNA signal in aregion of interest (ROI) analyzed by DBiT-seq (10 μm pixel size). Scalebar (left panel) 500 μm. Scale bar (right panel) 200 μm. (FIG. 10B) H&Estaining performed on an adjacent tissue section. Scale bar=200 μm.(FIG. 10C) Overlay of spatial expression maps for selected genes. Itrevealed spatial correlation of different genes with high accuracy. Forexample, Pax6 is expressed in whole optic vesicle including asingle-cell-layer of melanocytes marked by Pme1 and the optical nervefiber bundle on the left. Six6 is expressed within the optic vesicle butdoes not overlap significantly with the melanocyte layer although theyare in proximity. Scale bar=100 μm. (FIG. 10D) Pme1, Pax6 and Six6spatial expression superimposed onto the darkfield tissue images of themouse embryo samples E10 and E11 (pixel size 10 μm). These genes areimplicated in early stage embryonic eye development. Pme1 was detectedin a layer of melanocytes lining the optical vesicle. Pax6 and Six6 weremainly detected inside the optical vesicle but also seen in otherregions mapped in this data. (FIG. 10E) Spatial expression of Aldh1a1and Aldh1a3. Aldh1a1 is expressed in dorsal retina of early embryo, andmeanwhile, Adlh1a3 is mainly expressed in retinal pigmented epitheliumand in ventral retina. (FIG. 10F) Spatial expression of Msx1. It ismainly enriched in the ciliary body of an eye, including the ciliarymuscle and the ciliary epithelium, which produces the aqueous humor.(FIG. 10G) Spatial expression of Gata3. It is essential for lensdevelopment and mainly expressed in posterior lens fiber cells duringembryogenesis. (FIG. 10H) Integration of scRNA-seq (Cao et al., 2019)and DBiT-seq data (10 μm pixel size). The combined data were analyzedwith unsupervised clustering and visualized with different colors fordifferent samples. It revealed that DBiT-seq pixels conformed into theclusters of scRNA-seq data. (FIG. 10I) Clustering analysis of thecombined dataset (scRNA-seq and DBiT-seq) revealed 25 major clusters.(FIG. 10J) Spatial pattern of select clusters (0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 19,20, 22) identified in UMAP (FIG. 10I). (FIG. 10K) Cell types (differentcolors) identified by scRNA-seq and comparison with DBiT-seq pixels(black). (FIG. 10L), (FIG. 10M) & (FIG. 10N) Spatial expression patternof DBiT-seq pixels from select clusters (FIG. 10I) in relation to celltypes identified (FIG. 10K).

FIGS. 11A-11D. Global clustering analysis of 11 mouse embryos from E10,E11 to E12. (FIG. 11A) tSNE plot showing the clustering analysis ofDBiT-seq data from all 11 mouse embryo tissue samples. (FIG. 11B) tSNEplot color-coded for different mouse embryo tissue samples. (FIG. 11C)Heatmap of differentially expressed genes in 20 clusters and GOanalysis. Select GO terms and top ranked genes are shown for theclusters implicated in muscle system, pigment metabolic system, bloodvessel development, neuron development and telencephalon development.(FIG. 11D) UMAP plot showing the cluster analysis result, color-codedfor different samples (left) or the developmental stages (right).

FIGS. 12A-12G. Mapping internal organs in a E11 mouse embryo. (FIG. 12A)Enlarged view of UMAP clustering of FIG. 5D with a specific focus on theE11 embryo lower body sample. (FIG. 12B) Spatial expression of fourselect clusters indicated in FIG. 12A. (FIG. 12C) UMAP showing theclustering analysis of the E11 embryo lower body sample only. The tissuepixels from four major clusters shown in FIGS. 6A&B are circled in thisUMAP with more sub-clusters identified. (FIG. 12D) Spatial map of allthe clusters shown in (FIG. 12C). (FIG. 12E) Cell type annotation(SingleR) using scRNA-seq reference data from E10.5 mouse embryo (Cao etal., 2019). (FIG. 12F) Spatial expression maps of individual genes.(FIG. 12G) Tissue types identified for clusters a, b, c, and d indicatedin (A) overlaid onto the tissue image. Major organs such as heart(atrium and ventricle), liver and neutral tube were identified, inagreement with the tissue anatomy. Erythrocyte coagulation was detectedby DBiT-seq, for example, within the dorsal aorta and the atrialchamber. Scale bar=250 μm.

FIGS. 13A-13C. SpatialDE for automated feature identification. (FIG.13A) Major features identified in a E10 mouse embryo sample (see FIG.4). It revealed several additional tissue types in addition to eye.Pixel size=10 μm. Scale bar=200 μm. (FIG. 13B) Major features identifiedin the lower body of a E11 mouse embryo tissue sample (see FIG. 6),which showed a variety of tissue types developed in E11. Pixel size=25μm. Scale bar=500 μm. (FIG. 13C) Major features identified in the lowerbody of a E12 mouse embryo sample (see Table S4), which showed moretissue types and developing organs at this embryonic age (E12). Pixelsize=50 μm. Scale bar=1 mm.

FIGS. 14A-14H. DBiT-seq on a fluorescent IHC-stained tissue sample.(FIG. 14A) Fluorescent image of a pre-stained mouse embryo tissue slide.It was stained with DAPI, Phalloidin and P2RY12. Scale bar=200 μm. (FIG.14B) UMI count heatmap generated by DBiT-seq of the same tissue slidepre-stained with fluorescence IHC. (FIG. 14C) Bright filed image of thistissue sample prior to DBiT-seq. (FIG. 14D) Overlap of bright fieldimage with the UMI heatmap. (FIG. 14E) Cell segmentation conducted withImageJ based on the fluorescence image. (FIG. 14F) Overlay of theDBiT-seq pixel grid and the fluorescent image. (FIG. 14G) Fluorescentimages of representative pixels. Pixels containing single nuclei can bereadily identified. (FIG. 14H) Gene expression pattern of representativepixels from (G).

FIG. 15. Single-cell deterministic barcoding. FIG. 15 depicts theexperimental procedure to perform deterministic barcoding in cells(DBiC) to detect and eventually sequence single-cell transcriptome in amassively parallel and deterministic manner, which means each cell to beanalyzed by sequencing has a known combination barcode AiBj (i=1-50,j=1-50) and known location on the substrate. Therefore, other cellularcharacteristics such as cell size, morphology, protein signaling, andmigration can be imaged and directly linked to the omics data of thesame single cell obtained by sequencing. (1) Hydrodynamic trapping of˜3000 single cells in a microfluidic chip. Then, the cells are fixedwith 1% formaldehyde and permeabilized. (2) Flowing through barcode Ai(i=1-50) solutions in the horizontal direction. In order to confirm theflow is leak free, the barcodes introduced to adjacent microchannelswere pre-labelled with different color fluorophores. (3) Imagingfluorescently labelled barcodes Ai (i=1-50) that already bind to mRNAsin cells through the hybridization between oligo-dT tag of the barcode Astrands and the poly-A tail of mRNAs. (4) This microfluidic chip isremoved but cells still remain on the surface of the poly-amine-coatedglass slide. Another microfluidic chip is placed on the slide in a waythat the microfluidic channels are perpendicular to the first flowdirection. Then, barcode Bj (j=1-50) solutions are introduced in aperpendicular direction. Again, the barcode B solutions flowed intoadjacent microchannels contain different fluorophores and can bevisualized to confirm no leakage. This image shows the fluorescentsignals from barcode Bj (j=1-50), confirming successful barcoding ofeach single cells. Combining barcode Ai and Bj, each cell has a uniqueand known barcode AiBj (i=1-50 and j=1-50).

FIGS. 16A-16B. Deterministic barcoding in tissue for chromatinaccessibility assay. (FIG. 16A) Schematic depiction of the workflow toperform spatially resolved assay for chromatin accessibility throughorthogonal barcoding of one of the DNAs incorporated in Tn5 enzyme.(FIG. 16B) The tissue image and the fluorescence images showingsuccessful incorporation of barcodes Ai (i=1-50) and barcode Bj(j=1-50), again, in an orthogonal fashion to create a spatial mosaic ofbarcoded tissue pixels.

FIGS. 17A-17D. Workflow of DBiT-seq on FFPE samples. (FIG. 17A) Schemeof DBiT-seq on FFPE samples. FFPE tissue blocks stored at roomtemperature were sectioned into thickness of ˜5-7 μm and placed onto apoly-L-lysine coated glass slide. Deparaffinization, rehydration,permeabilization and post-fixation were sequentially completed beforeattaching the 1^(st) PDMS chip. Barcodes A1-A50 were loaded and reversetranscription was carried out inside each channel. After washing, the1^(st) PDMS was removed and a 2^(nd) PDMS chip with channels ofperpendicular directions was attached on the tissue slide. Ligationreaction mix along with DNA Barcodes B1-B50 were vacuumed through eachof the 50 channels and reacted for 30 minutes. Afterwards, the tissuesection was lysed completely by Proteinase K and collected fordownstream processes, which include template switch, PCR and librarypreparation. (FIG. 17B) Deparaffinization of a E10 mouse embryo. Tissuesection maintained its morphology and tissue features were discernable.(FIG. 17C) Plastic deformation of tissue section after two sequentialmicrofluidic flows of DBiT-seq. (FIG. 17D) Comparison of gene and UMIcounts of DBiT-seq on FFPE samples with Slide-seq, Slide-seqV2 andDBiT-seq on Formalin fixed Fresh frozen samples.

FIGS. 18A-18E. Spatial transcriptome analysis of FFPE tissue sectionsfrom an E10.5 mouse embryo. (FIG. 18A) Two tissue regions of FFPE mouseembryo were studied using DBiT-seq. One experiment (FFPE-1) covered thehead region of the mouse embryo; the other experiment (FFPE-2) coveredthe mid-body region with small overlap with FFPE-1. Two separate tissueslides were used in this study. (FIG. 18B) UMAP visualization ofcombined pixels from FFPE-1 and FFPE-2 using Seurat package. Left: UMAPlabelled by sample names; right: UMAP labelled by cluster numbers.Totally 10 clusters were identified. (FIG. 18C) Tissue morphology,anatomical annotation, and spatial mapping of the 10 clusters in (FIG.18B). (FIG. 18D) GO enrichment analysis of above 10 clusters. (FIG. 18E)Comparison to “pseudo bulk” reference data. The aggregated transcriptomeprofiles of two FFPE samples conform well into data generated fromscRNA-seq reference data from mouse embryos ranging from E9.5-E13.5 (Caoet al., 2019).

FIGS. 19A-19E. Integration of FFPE mouse embryo DBiT-seq data withscRNA-seq data. (FIG. 19A) Integration analysis of FFPE-1 and FFPE-2with scRNA-seq data from mouse embryos ranging from E9.5-E13.5 (Cao etal., 2019). The two samples conform well in the scRNA-seq data. (FIG. 6BUMAP of integrated data showing 26 distinct clusters. (FIG. 19C) Celltype annotation for each cluster using cell type information fromscRNA-seq data. (FIG. 19D) Spatial map of some representative clusters.(FIG. 19E) Cell types identified in FIG. 8C.

FIGS. 20A-20E. Spatial transcriptome analysis of the FFPE tissuesections from an adult mouse aorta. (FIG. 20A) Bright field image ofadult mouse aorta. Scale bar is 500 μm. (FIG. 20B) UMI and gene countsmap for each pixel. The average UMI count per pixel is ˜1828 and genecount is ˜664. (FIG. 20C) Clustering with scRNA-seq data. Pixels fromaorta sample conform greatly with scRNA-seq reference. (FIG. 20D)Spatial mapping of cell types annotated by integration with scRNA-seqdata. The cell types are endothelial cells (ECs), arterial fibroblasts(Fibro), macrophages (Macro), monocytes (Mono), Neurons and vascularsmooth muscle cells (VSMCs). (FIG. 20E) Spatial mapping of individualcell types from FIG. 9D.

FIGS. 21A-21F. Spatial transcriptome mapping of the FFPE tissue sectionsfrom a mouse heart (atrium and ventricle). (FIG. 21A) Bright field imageof deparaffinized mouse atrium tissue section and the gene heatmap.(FIG. 21B Bright field image of deparaffinized mouse ventricle tissuesection and the gene heatmap. (FIG. 21C) Clustering of atrium data withreference scRNA-seq data. (FIG. 21D) Spatial distribution ofrepresentative annotated cells in atrium. (FIG. 21E) Clustering ofventricle data with reference scRNA-seq data. (FIG. 21F) Spatialdistribution of representative annotated cells in ventricle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In multicellular systems, cells do not function in isolation but arestrongly influenced by spatial location and surroundings (Knipple etal., 1985; Scadden, 2014; van Vliet et al., 2018). Spatial geneexpression heterogeneity plays an essential role in a range ofbiological, physiological and pathological processes (de Bruin et al.,2014; Fuchs et al., 2004; Yudushkin et al., 2007). For example, how stemcells differentiate and give rise to diverse tissue types is a spatiallyregulated process which controls the development of different tissuetypes and organs (Ivanovs et al., 2017; Slack, 2008). Mouse embryonicorganogenesis begins during the end of the first week right aftergastrulation and continues through birth (Mitiku and Baker, 2007). Whenand how exactly different organs emerge in an early stage embryo isstill inadequately understood due to dynamic heterogeneity of tissuesand cells during a rapid developmental process. An embryonic organ atthis stage could differ substantially in anatomical and moleculardefinitions as compared to their adult counterparts. In order to dissectthe initiation of early organogenesis in the whole embryo context, it ishighly desirable to not only identify genome-wide molecular profiles todefine emerging cell types but also interrogate their spatialorganization in the tissue at a high resolution.

Despite the latest advent of massively parallel single-cellRNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) (Klein et al., 2015; Macosko et al., 2015)that revealed astonishing cellular heterogeneity in many tissue types,including the dissection of all major cell types in developing mouseembryos from E9 to E14 (Cao et al., 2019; Pijuan-Sala et al., 2019), thespatial information in the tissue context is missing in scRNA-seq data.The field of spatial transcriptomics emerged to address this challenge.Early attempts were all based on multiplexed single-molecule fluorescentin situ hybridization (smFISH) via spectral barcoding and sequentialimaging (Pichon et al., 2018; Trcek et al., 2017). It evolved rapidlyover the past years from detecting a handful of genes to hundreds orthousands (e.g., seqFISH, MERFISH) (Chen et al., 2015; Lubeck et al.,2014), and recently to the whole transcriptome level (e.g., SeqFISH+)(Eng et al., 2019). However, these methods are technically demanding,requiring high-sensitivity optical imaging systems, sophisticated imageanalysis process, and a lengthy repeated imaging workflow to achievehigh multiplexing (Perkel, 2019). Moreover, they are all based upon afinite panel of probes that hybridize to known mRNA sequences, limitingtheir potential to discover new sequences and variants. Fluorescent insitu sequencing methods (e.g., FISSEQ, STARmap) (Lee et al., 2015; Wanget al., 2018) were additionally reported but the number of detectablegenes is limited, and their workflow resembles sequential FISH, againrequiring a lengthy, repeated, and technically demanding imagingprocess.

It is highly desirable to develop new methods forhigh-spatial-resolution, unbiased, genome-scale molecular mapping inintact tissues, which does not require sophisticated imaging but caninstead capitalize on the power of high-throughput Next GenerationSequencing (NGS). This year, a method called Slide-seq was reported thatutilizes a self-assembled monolayer of DNA-barcoded beads on a glassslide to capture mRNAs released from a tissue section placed on top. Itdemonstrated spatial transcriptome sequencing at a 10 μm resolution(Rodriques et al., 2019). A similar method, called HDST, used 2 μm beadsin a microwell array chip to further increase the nominal resolution(Vickovic et al., 2019). However, these emergent NGS-based methods havethe following limitations: (a) the way to decode the array ofDNA-barcoded beads is through manual sequential hybridization or SOLiDsequencing, similar to seqFISH, again requiring a lengthy and repeatedimaging process; (b) the number of detected genes from the 10 μmresolution Slide-seq data is very low (˜150 genes/pixel) and thus, itcan hardly visualize the spatial expression of individual genes in ameaningful way even if the collective gene sets can locate major celltypes; (c) these methods, including a previously reportedlow-spatial-resolution (˜150 um) approach (Stahl et al., 2016), are allbased upon the same mechanism—“barcoded solid-phase RNA capture” (Salmenet al., 2018) (they require newly sectioned tissues to be carefullytransferred to the bead or spot array and lysed to release mRNAs;although the mRNAs are presumably captured only by the beads rightunderneath, the lateral diffusion of free mRNAs is unavoidable; and (d)all these genome-scale methods are technically demanding and difficultto use in most biology laboratories. Finally, it is not obvious howthese methods can be extended to other omics measurements and how easyresearchers from other fields can adopt them. Therefore,high-spatial-resolution omics is still a scientific challenge but alsoan opportunity that, if fully realized and democratized, will shift theparadigm of research in many fields of biology and medicine. Currentmethods are either technically impractical or fundamentally limited bythe approaches themselves for enabling wide-spread adoption.

Inspired by how molecular barcoding of individual cells in isolateddroplets or microwells served as a universal sample preparation method(Dura et al., 2019; Klein et al., 2015; Macosko et al., 2015) to barcodesingle cells for massively parallel sequencing of mRNAs, DNAs, orchromatin states, the inventors sought to develop a universal method tospatially barcode tissues, forming a large number of barcoded tissuepixels each containing a distinct molecular barcode. Similarly, thebarcoded mRNAs or proteins in the tissue pixels can be retrieved,pooled, and amplified for NGS sequencing but, in this case, to generatea spatial omics atlas. The inventors have previously developedmicrofluidic channel-guided deposition and patterning of DNAs orantibodies on a substrate for multiplexed protein assay (Lu et al.,2013; Lu et al., 2015). Building on this technology, they have designeda microfluidic channel-guided delivery technique for high-resolutionspatial barcoding.

The present disclosure provides a fundamentally new technology forspatial omics—microfluidic Deterministic Barcoding in Tissue for spatialomics sequencing (DBiT-seq). A microfluidic chip with parallel channels(10, 25 or 50 μm in width) is placed directly against a fixed tissueslide, and in some embodiments clamped only to the region of interestusing a particular clamping force, to introduce oligo-dT tagged DNAbarcodes A1-A50 that bind mRNAs and initiate in situ reversetranscription. This step results in stripes of barcoded cDNAs in thetissue section. Afterwards, the first chip is removed and anothermicrofluidic chip is placed perpendicular to the first flow direction tointroduce a second set of DNA barcodes B1-B50, which are ligated at theintersection to form a 2D mosaic of tissue pixels, each of which has adistinct combination of barcodes Ai and Bj (i=1-50, j=1-50). Then, thetissue is lysed and spatially barcoded cDNAs are retrieved, pooled,template-switched, amplified by PCR, and subjected to tagmentation toprepare a library for NGS sequencing. Proteins can be co-measured byapplying a cocktail of antibody-derived DNA tags (ADTs) to the fixedtissue slide prior to flow barcoding, similar to Ab-seq or CITE-seq(Shahi et al., 2017; Stoeckius et al., 2017).

Using DBiT-seq, the data provided herein has demonstratedhigh-spatial-resolution co-mapping of whole transcriptome and a panel of22 proteins in mouse embryos. It faithfully detected all major tissuetypes in early organogenesis. The spatial gene expression and proteinatlas further identifies a differential pattern in embryonic forebraindevelopment and microvascular networks. The 10 μm-pixel resolution candetect a single-cell-layer of melanocytes lining around an opticalvesicle and discovered asymmetric gene expression within it, which hasnot been observed previously. DBiT-seq does not require any DNA spotmicroarray or decoded DNA-barcoded bead array. It works for an existingfixed tissue slide, not requiring newly prepared tissue sections thatare necessary for other methods (Rodriques et al., 2019; Stahl et al.,2016). It is highly versatile allowing for the combining of differentreagents for multiple omics measurements to yield a spatial multi-omicsatlas. The inventors envision that this may become a universal approachto spatially barcode a range of molecular information including DNAs,epigenetic states, non-coding RNAs, protein modifications, or combined.The microfluidic chip is directly clamped onto the region of interest onthe tissue slide and the barcode flow step requires no experience inmicrofluidic control. Reagent dispensing is similar to pipetting into amicroliter plate. Thus, DBiT-seq is potentially a platform technologythat can be readily adopted by researchers from a wide range ofbiological and biomedical research fields.

HSR Microfluidic-Based Systems

To achieve high spatial resolution in a biological context, a detector(e.g., microfluidic device) should profile single cells and resolvespatial features small enough to meaningfully image patterns in thespatial arrangement of single cells and groups of cells.

Single-Cell Resolution. A detector can profile single cells if thedetectors' pixels are of approximately equal or smaller size than thecells. Given mammalian cell sizes that range from approximately 5-20microns (μm) in length, this entails utilizing a detector with pixels ofapproximately the same length. Although cell sizes vary within samples,and some cells may be larger and some smaller than detector pixels witha constant size, the inventors have found that by combining opticalimaging with digital spatial reconstruction they can select those pixelsthat circumscribe a single cell in order to achieve true single-cellresolution, even if only for subset of a reconstructed image.

Imaging Multicellular Motifs. In addition to profiling individual cells,it is also useful to consider the ability of an imaging detector toresolve spatial features as being determined by the center-centerdistance between imaging pixels. This perspective becomes more relevantwhen examining structures or motifs comprising groups of cells ratherthan individual cells, such as developing organoids in mouse embryos, asshown in the Examples provided herein.

The standard criterion used in data processing in both the time andspatial domains is the Nyquist Criterion, which dictates that given acenter-center distance of a certain number of microns, a detector canfaithfully reproduce imaged spatial features only down to approximatelytwice that center-center distance. Given mammalian cell sizes that rangefrom approximately 5-20 μm and that typically neighbor each otherface-to-face, features of cell neighborhoods should vary over distancesequal to one or more cell lengths. Thus, to resolve these features, athe HSR detector provided herein, in some embodiments, includes pixelswith center-center distance between pixels of not more than several celllengths, e.g., 10-50 μm.

Imaging systems with pixel sizes and center-center distances much largerthan these values cannot profile single cells or resolve featurescharacteristic of cells or multicellular features and therefore do notdisplay HSR. For example, a detector with pixels with size of 1millimeter would probe distance scales of size 1-2 mm or larger andwould not resolve single cells or multicellular features. As the presentdisclosure described elsewhere herein, pixels much smaller than thisrange (e.g., less than one micron) result in unsuitable detectorsbecause their mappable area becomes extremely small and logistical tasks(including reagent loading and delivery) become impractical to carryout. The inventors have found that there is a critical range forhigh-throughput HSR detection with channel width and pitch (near theregion of interest) between approximately 2.5-50 μm, for example.

Microfluidic Devices

Microfluidic devices (e.g., chips) may be used, in some embodiments, todeliver barcoded polynucleotides to a biological sample in a spatiallydefined manner. A system based on crossed microfluidic channels, such asthose described here, have several key parameters that largely determinethe spatial resolution and mappable area of the device. These include(1) the number of microfluidic channels (1/eta); (2) the microchannelwidth (o/omega), measured in microns, i.e., the width of the open spacein each microfluidic channel (tissue beneath these open spaces isimaged); and (3) microchannel pitch (A/delta), measured in microns,i.e., the width of the closed space between the end of one channel andthe start of another channel (tissue beneath these closed spaces is notimaged). See the Examples for a further discussion of key challenges andsolutions associated with the device parameters.

Device Parameters

The microfluidic devices provided herein include multiple microchannelscharacterized by a certain width, depth, and pitch. Surprisingly, thepresent disclosure demonstrates critical ranges for several microchannelparameters, required to achieve high spatial resolution at thesingle-cell level.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary detection scheme comprising two microfluidicdevices. The first device flows reagents left to right and is drawn as aseries of rows. The second device flows reagents from top to bottom andis drawn as a series of columns. The pixels of the detector comprise theoverlap areas between the two sets of shapes, and as can be seen in thedrawing such a geometry endows the squares with edge length ω microns.As an illustrative example, assume a detection scheme that utilizesmicrofluidic devices with η=50, ω=10 microns, and Δ=10 microns.Referring to FIG. 1, this detector will feature pixels that are squareswith edge length 10 microns, and the distance between squares in thehorizontal and vertical directions is equal to 20 microns. This means itcan profile single cells that are approximately 10 microns or larger andresolve spatial features (e.g., characteristics of cell neighborhoods)that are 40 microns or larger. As we have seen in this example,independently of some details of the embodiment, such microfluidic-baseddetectors will display certain performance characteristics determined bythe design and the design parameters. These include the following: (1)the ability to profile individual cells; (2) minimum length scale ofspatial feature reproduction; and (3) the size of the mappable area.

These performance characteristics exert tension upon one another andtherefore cannot be chosen independently. For example, it is possible todesign a device with arbitrarily fine spatial resolution by decreasing ωand Δ, even down to nanometer scale, as has been reported elsewhere.However, doing so would not result in a practical detector for examiningtissue sections at single-cell resolution, as the mappable area of thedevice would be correspondingly small (see, e.g., FIG. 2). On the otherhand, drastically increasing the mappable area of the device byincreasing ω and Δ to very large values such as 1-2 mm (which has alsobeen reported) would result in extremely coarse spatial resolutionunsuitable for high spatial resolution imaging. Thus there is a tradeoffbetween these design parameters that must be navigated to achieve adetector with both high spatial resolution and mappable areaappropriately large for addressing the needs of the research communityin investigating tissue samples with spatial features as small as cellsbut cell neighborhoods that can vary in biologically meaningful waysover distances of hundreds of microns.

One contributing factor to this tension is the fact that in asingle-layer microfluidic device η, the number of channels, cannot beincreased without limit. This is because each channel must be fed byinlets and lead to an outlet and must approach and recede from theregion of interest without intersecting other channels on the samedevice. The inventors have found that it is possible to fitapproximately 50 inlet and outlet ports while ensuring the device isstill practical to fabricate and fill with reagents by hand. FIG. 2shows the performance characteristics for 50 channel devices withvarious microchannel widths. It is also assumed in this example that thechannel width and spacing (parameters ω and Δ) are equal. Clearly, evenif it were practical to create nano-channels with width down to 100nanometers, such a device would assay a tiny portion of a tissuesection, which range in size from 600 microns (for some tumor cores) tocentimeters (for human biopsies, e.g. whole-tumor sections). On theother extreme, devices have been reported utilizing macro-channels withup to 2 mm in width. While these could map out a large area (much largerthan most tissue sections), they do not do so at high spatialresolution.

Number of microchannels. In some embodiments, a first set of barcodedpolynucleotides is delivered through a first microfluidic chip thatcomprises parallel microchannels positioned on a surface of thebiological sample. In some embodiments, a first microfluidic chipcomprises at least 5, at least 10, at least 20, at least 30, at least40, or at least 50 parallel microchannels. In some embodiments, a firstmicrofluidic chip comprises 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 parallelmicrochannels. In some embodiments, a first microfluidic chip comprises5 to 100 parallel microchannels (e.g., 5-10, 5-25, 5-50, 5-75, 10-25,10-50, 10-75, 10-100, 25-0, 25-27, 25-100, 50-75, or 50-100 parallelmicrochannels). In some embodiments, a second set of barcodedpolynucleotides is delivered through a second microfluidic chip thatcomprises parallel microchannels that are positioned on the biologicalsample perpendicular to the direction of the microchannels of the firstmicrofluidic chip. In some embodiments, a second microfluidic chipcomprises at least 5, at least 10, at least 20, at least 30, at least40, or at least 50 parallel microchannels. In some embodiments, a secondmicrofluidic chip comprises 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 parallelmicrochannels. In some embodiments, a second microfluidic chip comprises5 to 100 parallel microchannels (e.g., 5-10, 5-25, 5-50, 5-75, 10-25,10-50, 10-75, 10-100, 25-0, 25-27, 25-100, 50-75, or 50-100 parallelmicrochannels).

Microchannel width. Data in accordance with the present disclosure hasshown that while microchannels having a width of 5 μm could bereproducibly manufactured via soft lithographic techniques, for example,dimensions this small were prone to blockage and/or tissue sectionimpaction. The data shows that the highest resolution was achieved withmicrochannels having a width of at least 10 μm. Thus, in someembodiments, a microchannel has a width of at least 10 μm (e.g., atleast 15 μm, at least 20 μm, at least 25 μm, at least 30 μm, at least 35μm, at least 40 μm, or at least 50 μm). In some embodiments, amicrochannel has a width of 10 μm, 15 μm, 20 μm, 25 μm, 30 μm, 35 μm, 40μm, or 50 μm. In some embodiments, a microchannel has a width of 10 μmto 150 μm (e.g., 10-125 μm, 10-100 μm, 25-150 μm, 25-125 μm, 25-100 μm,50-150 μm, 50-125 μm, or 50-100 μm).

Variable width. Early data showed that microchannel devices withmicrochannels having constant width, e.g., same width along the lengthof the microchannel, were often vulnerable to blockage by particulate(e.g., dust), impacting flow or the application of negative pressure,with such errors occurring more frequently on devices with narrowermicrochannels (e.g., ˜10 μm). To overcome this complication, the presentdisclosure provides variable width microchannels having a width at theoutlet and inlet ports that is greater than (e.g., at least 10% greaterthan, e.g., 10-50% greater than, e.g., 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%,40%, 45%, or 50% greater than) the width of the microchannel near/at theregion of interest (e.g., wide near the inlet and outlet ports, withwidth gradually reducing as the channel approaches the region ofinterest—FIG. 3).

Variable channel width also eases fluid flow through the microfluidicchannels. In microchannels with a rectangular cross-section,hydrodynamic resistance per unit length is proportional to an amountapproximated by the formula 12/(1−0.63hω)(1/h{circumflex over ( )}3ω),where h represents the channel height (shown as the vertical dimensionin FIG. 3). This formula was used to generate the approximate relativeflow resistance values shown in FIG. 3. For example, a 50 μm devicefeatures 100 μm channels which shrink to 50 μm only near the region ofinterest. As another example, a 25 μm device's channels shrink to 100,50, and then 25 μm near the region of interest. As yet another example,a 10 μm device's channels range from 100, 50, 25, and then 10 μm nearthe region of interest.

In some embodiments, a microchannel has a width of 50 μm to 150 μm nearthe inlet and outlet ports and a width of 10 μm to 50 μm near the regionof interest. For example, a microchannel may have a width of 100 μm nearthe inlet and outlet ports and width of 50 μm near the region ofinterest. As another example, a microchannel may have a width of 100 μmnear the inlet and outlet ports and width of 25 μm near the region ofinterest. As yet another example, a microchannel may have a width of 100μm near the inlet and outlet ports and width of 10 μm near the region ofinterest. In some embodiments, a microchannel has a width of 50, 60, 70,80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 130, 140, or 150 μm near the inlet andoutlet ports. In some embodiments, a microchannel has a width of 10, 20,30, 40, or 50 μm near the region of interest.

Microchannel height. Data in accordance with the present disclosure hasalso shown that the most stable and least error-prone microfluidicdevices, at least those manufactured from PDMS, have microchannelheights approximately equal (e.g., within 10%) to the microchannelwidth. In some embodiments, a microchannel has a height of at least 10μm (e.g., at least 15 μm, at least 20 μm, at least 25 μm, at least 30μm, at least 35 μm, at least 40 μm, or at least 50 μm). In someembodiments, a microchannel has a height of 10 μm, 15 μm, 20 μm, 25 μm,30 μm, 35 μm, 40 μm, or 50 μm). In some embodiments, a microchannel hasa height of 10 μm to 150 μm (e.g., 10-125 μm, 10-100 μm, 25-150 μm,25-125 μm, 25-100 μm, 50-150 μm, 50-125 μm, or 50-100 μm). These heightshave been tested and shown to be enough to provide clearance above dustor tissue blockages, for example, and low enough to provide the requiredrigidity and to prevent deformation of the channel during clamping andflow.

In some embodiments, a microchannel has a width of 10 μm and a height of12-15 μm. In other embodiments, a microchannel has a width of 25 μm anda height of 17-22 μm. In yet other embodiments, a microchannel has awidth of 50 μm and a height of 20-100 μm.

Microchannel pitch. The pitch is the distance between microchannels of amicrofluidic device (e.g., chip). In some embodiments, the pitch of amicrofluidic device is at least 10 μm (e.g., at least 15 μm, at least 20μm, at least 25 μm, at least 30 μm, at least 35 μm, at least 40 μm, orat least 50 μm). In some embodiments, the pitch of a microfluidic deviceis at 10 μm, 15 μm, 20 μm, 25 μm, 30 μm, 35 μm, 40 μm, or 50 μm. In someembodiments, the pitch of a microfluidic device is at 10 μm to 150 μm(e.g., 10-125 μm, 10-100 μm, 25-150 μm, 25-125 μm, 25-100 μm, 50-150 μm,50-125 μm, or 50-100 μm).

Negative Pressure Systems

Many microfluidics platforms utilize positive pressure via syringepumps, peristaltic pumps, and other types of positive pressure pumpswhereby fluid is pumped from a reservoir into the device. Generally, aconnection is made to interface the reservoir/pump assembly with themicrofluidic device; often this takes the form of tubes terminating inpins that plug into inlet ports on the device. However, this type ofsystem requires laborious and time-consuming fine-tuning of the assemblyprocess associated with several drawbacks. For example, if the pins areinserted insufficiently deep into the inlet wells or the pin diameter istoo small relative to the ports, then upon activation of the pumps,fluid pressure will eject the tube from the port. As another example, ifthe pins are inserted excessively deep into the wells, then uponactivation of the pumps, fluid pressure will separate the microfluidicdevice from the glass substrate, resulting in leakage. While epoxyingpins into ports and/or bonding the microfluidic device to the substratevia plasma bonding or thermal bonding might address the foregoingdrawbacks, these strategies are make it difficult to disassemble thesystem in a non-destructive way, resulting in component loss and areimpractical when the substrate contains sensitive material, such as atissue section, and/or antibodies.

The methods and devices provided herein, by contrast, overcome thedrawbacks associated with existing microfluidic platforms by using, insome embodiments, a negative pressure system that utilizes a vacuum topull liquid through the device from the back, rather than positivepressure to push it through the device from the front. This has severaladvantages, including, for example, (i) reducing the risk of leakage bypulling together the device and substrate and (ii) increasing efficiencyand ease of use—the vacuum can be applied to all outlet ports, unlikepins, which must be inserted individually into each inlet port. Using anegative pressure system saves several hours per run of fine-tuning andpin assembly.

Thus, in some embodiments provided herein, the barcoded polynucleotidesare delivered to a region of interest through a microfluidic device(e.g., chip) using negative pressure (vacuum). In some embodiments,delivery of a first set of barcoded polynucleotides is delivered througha first microfluidic device using a negative pressure system. In someembodiments, delivery of a second set of barcoded polynucleotides isdelivered through a second microfluidic device using a negative pressuresystem.

Inlet and Outlet Ports

Data in accordance with the present disclosure has further shown thatmicrofluidic devices having a common outlet port are vulnerable tobackflow of reagents into the region of interest through incorrectmicrochannels, particularly during device disassembly. Such backflow canresult in incorrect addressing of target molecules, resulting in anincorrect reconstruction of a spatial map of target molecules performedin later steps of the methods (e.g., after sequencing). To limit thepossibility of reagent backflow, the microfluidic devices providedherein, in some embodiments, include microchannels that each have itsown inlet port and outlet port. For example, a microchannel devicehaving 50 microchannels has 50 inlet ports and 50 outlet ports. Thisdevice design eliminates backflow. Thus, this design has reduced therate of reconstruction errors (e.g., crosstalk events) by at least 90%(at least 95%, at least 98%, or 100%).

Inlet wells. Initial microfluid device designs employed small (1 mm)inlet wells without filters and long stretches of small cross-sectionchannels. This posed several challenges. First, punching PDMS, forexample, creates small particulate debris, sometimes of similar size tothe microfluidic channel cross section. This debris when streamed to theregion of interest often caused blockages and flow restrictions. Byincluding filter components with openings ˜10 microns in front of everyinlet well, these kinds of errors were drastically reduced.

Inlet filters. Second, the extremely small (1 mm diameter) inlet wellfootprints posed great difficulty in accurately punching holes toprovide for reagent delivery into the inlets. It was difficulty topipette reagents into the inlet holes as well. By increasing the holediameter from 1 mm to 1.85 mm, it was possible to greatly facilitatechip fabrication and reagent loading.

Microchannel length. Thirdly, with initial microfluidic designs, thelength of the portion of channels with the smallest cross-sections weretoo long, resulting in drastically increased flow resistance. Byincreasing the length of the portion of the channels with large crosssection (e.g., 50-100 microns) and reducing the length of the portionswith small cross section (e.g., 10-25 microns) we were able to morereliably flow reagents at lower vacuum pressures.

FIG. 4 depicts these three design innovations that greatly improveddevice performance and reduced failure rates.

Clamping

During initial experiments used to test the microfluidic devices andmethods provided herein, frequent leakage of reagents occurred betweenchannels on the region of interest, as evidence by fluorescent dyeanalyses (see, e.g., Example 4, FIG. 7F). Convention clamping mechanismsproved cumbersome and introduced difficulties in addressing inlet andoutlet ports. To address the issues identified, a new clamping mechanismwas developed, which combines specific clamping parameters includinglocalized clamping and specific clamping forces. A range of clampingforces was investigated—in some instances, the clamping force wasinsufficient to prevent leaks, and in other cases the clamping force wasso great that flow was significantly reduced or even stopped entirely insome or all microchannels. Without being bound by theory, it was thoughthat the was due to the channel cross section being deformed by theclamping force, reducing the cross-sectional area and making thechannels more vulnerable to blockages due, for example, either to dustor the tissue occupying the entire microchannel.

Surprisingly, clamping the microfluidic device to the substrate in alocalized manner, only above the region of interest, with a clampingforce in the range of 5 to 50 newtons of force reduced leakage ofreagents. In some embodiments, the clamping force is 5 to 50 newtons offorce or 5 to 100 newtons of force (e.g., 5-75, 5-50, 5-25, 10-100,10-75, 10-50, 10-25, 25-100, 25-75, 25-50, 50-100, 50-75, or 75-100newtons of force, such as 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60,65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, or 100 newtons of force).

Microfluid chips, in some embodiments, are fabricated frompolydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Other substrates may be used.

Samples

In some embodiments, a sample is a biological sample. Non-limitingexamples of biological samples include tissues, cells, and bodily fluids(e.g., blood, urine, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, and semen). Thebiological sample may be adult tissue, embryonic tissue, or fetaltissue, for example. In some embodiments, a biological sample is from ahuman or other animal. For example, a biological sample may be obtainedfrom a murine (e.g., mouse or rat), feline (e.g., cat), canine (e.g.,dog), equine (e.g., horse), bovine (e.g., cow), leporine (e.g., rabbit),porcine (e.g., pig), hircine (e.g., goat), ursine (e.g., bear), orpiscine (e.g., fish). Other animals are contemplated herein.

In some embodiments, a biological sample is fixed, and thus is referredto as a fixed biological sample. Fixation (e.g., tissue fixation) refersto the process of chemically preserving the natural state of abiological sample, for example, for subsequent histological analysis.Various fixation agents are routinely used, including, for example,formalin (e.g., formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue),formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, any of which may beused herein to fix a biological sample. Other fixation reagents(fixatives) are contemplated herein. In some embodiments, the fixedtissue is FFPE tissue.

In some embodiments, the biological sample is a tissue. In someembodiments, the biological sample is a cell. A biological sample, suchas a tissue or a cell, in some embodiments, is sectioned and mounted ona surface, such as a slide (e.g., a glass microscope slide, such as apolylysine-coated glass microscope slide). In such embodiments, thesample may be fixed before or after it is sectioned. In someembodiments, the fixation process involves perfusion of the animal fromwhich the sample is collected. In some embodiments, the fixation processinvolves formalin fixation followed by paraffin embedding.

Molecules of Interest

The molecules of interest in a biological sample may be any moleculespresent in the sample. Non-limiting examples include polynucleotides,polypeptides (e.g., protein), peptides, lipids, and carbohydrates.Examples of polynucleotides include, but are not limited to, DNA andRNA, such as messenger RNA (mRNA). Examples of polypeptides include, butare not limited to, proteins. The molecules of interest may be, forexample, receptors, ligands, cytokines, growth hormones, growth factors,transcription factors, and enzymes. Other molecules of interest arecontemplated herein.

Binder-DNA Tag Conjugates

Barcoding a molecule of interest present in a biological sample, in someembodiments, includes the use of binder-DNA tag conjugates, whichinclude (i) a binder molecule that specifically binds to a molecule ofinterest (e.g., an antibody) and (ii) a DNA tag (e.g., a contiguousstretch of nucleotides), wherein the DNA tag comprises a binder barcodeand a polyA sequence (e.g., at least 50, at least 100, ˜1-100, e.g.,25-100, 50-100, or 75-100 contiguous adenine (A) nucleotides).

A binder molecule is any molecule that can bind to a molecule ofinterest, such as a polynucleotide, polypeptide, lipid, and/orcarbohydrate, for a period of time sufficient to withstand the barcodingmethods described herein (e.g., to produce the cDNA used for thesequencing reads). In some embodiments, the binder molecule is anantibody. Non-limiting examples of antibodies include whole antibodies,Fab antibody fragments, F(ab′)₂ antibody fragments, monospecific Fab₂fragments, bispecific Fab₂ fragments, trispecific Fab₃ fragments, singlechain variable fragments (scFvs), bispecific diabodies, trispecificdiabodies, scFv-Fc molecules, and minibodies. Other binder moleculesinclude ligands (e.g., to detect receptor molecules of interest) andreceptors (e.g., to detect ligand molecules of interest). Othermolecules that bind polynucleotides, polypeptides, peptides, lipids,and/or carbohydrates are contemplated herein.

Barcoded Polynucleotides

A non-limiting example of the barcoded polynucleotides (e.g., barcodedDNA) of the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 5B. In some embodiments,barcoded polynucleotides (e.g., of a first set of barcodedpolynucleotides) include a ligation linker sequence, a spatial barcodesequence, and a polyT sequence. In some embodiments, barcodedpolynucleotides (e.g., of a second set of barcoded polynucleotides)include a ligation linker sequence, a spatial barcode sequence, a uniquemolecular identifier (UMI) sequence, and a first PCR handle endsequence. In some embodiments, a PCR handle end sequence is terminallyfunctionalized with biotin.

A ligation linker sequence is any sequence complementary to a sequenceof a universal ligation linker, as provided herein. The length of aligation linker sequence may vary. For example, a ligation linkersequence may have a length of 5 to 50 nucleotides (e.g., 5 to 40, 5 to30, 5 to 20, 5 to 10, 10 to 50, 10 to 40, 10 to 30, or 10 to 20nucleotides). In some embodiments, a ligation linker sequence may have alength of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, or 50 nucleotides. Longerligation linker sequences are contemplated herein. In some embodiments,a ligation linker sequence of a barcoded polynucleotide of one set(e.g., a first set) differ (e.g., have a different composition ofnucleotides and/or a different length) from a ligation linker sequenceof a barcoded polynucleotide of another set (e.g., a second set).

A barcode sequence is a unique sequence that can be used to distinguisha barcoded polynucleotide in a biological sample from other barcodedpolynucleotides in the same biological sample. A spatial barcodesequence is a barcode sequence that is associated with a particularlocation in a biological sample (e.g., a tissue section mounted on aslide). The concept of “barcodes” and appending barcodes to nucleicacids and other proteinaceous and non-proteinaceous materials is knownto one of ordinary skill in the art (see, e.g., Liszczak G et al. AngewChem Int Ed Engl. 2019 Mar. 22; 58(13):4144-4162). Thus, it should beunderstood that the term “unique” is with respect to the molecules of asingle biological sample and means “only one” of a particular moleculeor subset of molecules of the sample. Thus, a “pixel” (also referred toas a “patch) comprising a unique spatially addressable barcodedconjugate (or a unique subset of spatially addressable barcodedconjugates) is the only pixel in the sample that includes thatparticular unique barcoded polynucleotide (or unique subset of barcodedpolynucleotides), such that the pixel (and any molecule(s) within thepixel) can be identified based on that unique barcoded conjugate (or aunique subset of barcoded conjugates).

For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, the polynucleotides of subset A1 (ofBarcode A) are coded with a specific barcode sequence, while thepolynucleotides of subsets A2, A3, A4, etc. are each coded with adifferent barcode sequence, each barcode specific to the subset.Likewise, the polynucleotides of subset B1 (of Barcode B) are coded witha specific barcode sequence, while the polynucleotides of subsets B2,B3, B4, etc. are each coded with a different barcode sequence, eachbarcode specific to the subset. Thus, each overlapping patch, whichincludes a unique combination of Barcode A subsets and Barcode Bsubsets, contains a unique composite barcode (Barcode A+Barcode B). Forexample, an overlapping pixel (patch) containing A1+B1 barcodes isuniquely coded relative to its neighboring overlapping patches, whichcontain A2+B1 barcodes, A1+B2 barcodes, A2+B2 barcodes, etc.

The length of a spatial barcode sequence may vary. For example, aspatial barcode sequence may have a length of 5 to 50 nucleotides (e.g.,5 to 40, 5 to 30, 5 to 20, 5 to 10, 10 to 50, 10 to 40, 10 to 30, or 10to 20 nucleotides). In some embodiments, a spatial barcode sequence mayhave a length of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, or 50 nucleotides.Longer spatial barcode sequences are contemplated herein.

A polyT sequence is simply a contiguous sequence of thymine (T)residues. Likewise, a polyA sequence is simply a contiguous sequence ofadenine (A) residues. The length of a polyT or polyA sequence may vary.For example, a polyT or polyA sequence may have a length of 5 to 50nucleotides (e.g., 5 to 40, 5 to 30, 5 to 20, 5 to 10, 10 to 50, 10 to40, 10 to 30, or 10 to 20 nucleotides). In some embodiments, a polyT orpolyA sequence may have a length of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45,or 50 nucleotides. Longer polyT or polyA sequences are contemplatedherein.

As is known in the art, unique molecular identifiers (UMI) are molecular(e.g., DNA or RNA) tags that are typically used to detect and quantifyunique mRNA transcripts (see, e.g., Islam S et al. Nat Methods 2014February; 11(2):163-6; Smith T et al. Genome Res. 2017 March;27(3):491-499; and Liu D PeerJ. 2019 Dec. 16; 7:e8275). In someembodiments, the UMI is a barcode sequence. For example, the UMI may adegenerate nucleotide sequence having a length of 5 to 50 nucleotides(e.g., 5 to 40, 5 to 30, 5 to 20, 5 to 10, 10 to 50, 10 to 40, 10 to 30,or 10 to 20 nucleotides), which may be used to distinguish a barcodedpolynucleotide or a spatially addressable barcoded conjugate from otherpolynucleotides (e.g., other barcoded polynucleotides and/or conjugates)in a biological sample. In some embodiments, a UMI may have a length of5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, or 50 nucleotides.

Universal Ligation Linkers

Also provided herein are universal ligation linkers, which may be apolynucleotide, for example, that includes (i) a first nucleotidesequence that is complementary to and/or binds to the linker sequence ofthe barcoded polynucleotides of a first set of barcoded polynucleotides,and (ii) a second nucleotide sequence that is complementary to and/orbinds to the linker sequence of the barcoded polynucleotides of a secondset of barcoded polynucleotides. The purpose of the universal ligationlinkers is to serve as a bridge to join barcoded polynucleotides fromtwo different sets (e.g., the first set comprising a ligation linkersequence, a spatial barcode sequence, and a polyT sequence and thesecond set comprising a ligation linker sequence, a spatial barcodesequence, a unique molecular identifier (UMI) sequence, and a first PCRhandle end sequence). The length of a universal ligation linker mayvary. For example, a universal ligation linker may have a length of 10to 100 nucleotides (e.g., 10 to 90, 10 to 80, 10 to 70, 10 to 60, 10 to50, 10 to 40, 10 to 30, 10 to 20, 20 to 100, 20 to 90, 20 to 80, 20 to70, 20 to 60, 20 to 50, 20 to 40, or 20 to 30 nucleotides). In someembodiments, a universal ligation linker may have a length of 10, 15,20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, or 100nucleotides. Longer universal ligation linkers are contemplated herein.

The universal ligation linkers are typically added to a biologicalsample following the delivery of the second set of barcodedpolynucleotides, although, in some embodiments, universal ligationlinkers are annealed to the barcoded polynucleotides of the second setprior to delivery of the second set.

Methods

In some embodiments, the methods comprise delivering to a biologicaltissue a first set of barcoded polynucleotides. A first set may includeany number of barcoded polynucleotides. In some embodiments, a first setinclude 5 to 1000 barcoded polynucleotides. For example, a first set maycomprise 5 to 900, 5 to 800, 5 to 700, 5 to 600, 5 to 500, 5 to 400, 5to 300, 5 to 200, 5 100, 10 to 1000, 10 to 900, 10 to 800, 10 to 700, 10to 600, 10 to 500, 10 to 400, 10 to 300, 10 to 200, 20 to 1000, 20 to900, 20 to 800, 20 to 700, 20 to 600, 20 to 500, 20 to 400, 20 to 300,20 to 200, 50 to 1000, 50 to 900, 50 to 800, 50 to 700, 50 to 600, 50 to500, 50 to 400, 50 to 300, or 50 to 200 barcoded polynucleotides. Morethan 1000 barcoded polynucleotides in a first set are contemplatedherein.

Data has shown that permeabilization facilitates access to cytoplasmicanalytes such as mRNA. However, introducing a permeabilization stepprior to delivering the first set of barcoded polynucleotides, forexample, through the first microfluidic device, resulted in increasingthe rate at which reagents diffuse through the tissue matrix, includingthrough the tissue directly beneath the walls of the device. This led todrastically increased leakage of reagents from microchannel tomicrochannel beneath the microchannel walls, leading to reconstructionerrors. By modifying the protocol to introduce permeabilization agentsafter applying the first microfluidic device, thereby only increasingthe rate of diffusion of reagents through tissue directly beneathmicrofluidic microchannels (and not microchannel walls), the rate ofcrosstalk failure events we was drastically reduced in each of thedevices tested (10, 25, and 50 micron channel devices). Thus, in someembodiments, the methods comprise delivering to a biological tissuepermeabilization reagents (e.g., detergents such as Triton-X 100 orTween-20). In some embodiments, the methods comprise delivering to abiological tissue a first set of barcoded polynucleotides, and thendelivering to the biological tissue permeabilization reagents.

In some embodiments, the methods comprise producing cDNAs linked tobarcoded polynucleotides of the first set. In some embodiments, themethods comprise exposing the biological sample to a reversetranscription reaction. Methods of producing cDNA are known and anexample protocol is provided herein.

In some embodiments, the methods comprise delivering to the biologicalsample a second set of barcoded polynucleotides. A second set mayinclude any number of barcoded polynucleotides. In some embodiments, asecond set include 5 to 1000 barcoded polynucleotides. For example, afirst set may comprise 5 to 900, 5 to 800, 5 to 700, 5 to 600, 5 to 500,5 to 400, 5 to 300, 5 to 200, 5 100, 10 to 1000, 10 to 900, 10 to 800,10 to 700, 10 to 600, 10 to 500, 10 to 400, 10 to 300, 10 to 200, 20 to1000, 20 to 900, 20 to 800, 20 to 700, 20 to 600, 20 to 500, 20 to 400,20 to 300, 20 to 200, 50 to 1000, 50 to 900, 50 to 800, 50 to 700, 50 to600, 50 to 500, 50 to 400, 50 to 300, or 50 to 200 barcodedpolynucleotides. More than 1000 barcoded polynucleotides in a second setare contemplated herein.

In some embodiments, the methods comprise joining barcodedpolynucleotides of the first set to barcoded polynucleotides of thesecond set. In some embodiments, the methods comprise exposing thebiological sample to a ligation reaction, thereby producing atwo-dimensional array of spatially addressable barcoded conjugates boundto molecules of interest, wherein the spatially addressable barcodedconjugates comprises a unique combination of barcoded polynucleotidesfrom the first set and the second set. Ligation methods are known and anexample protocol is provided herein.

In some embodiments, the methods comprise imaging the biological sampleto produce a sample image. An optical microscope or a fluorescencemicroscope, for example, may be used to image the sample.

cDNA Extraction

In some embodiments, the methods comprise extracting cDNAs from thebiological sample. Nucleic acid extractions methods are known and anexample protocol is provided herein. Unexpectedly, however, simplylysing the entire biological sample, in some embodiments, introducescomplications into downstream processes. For example, because the firstand second stage flow patterns intersect in regions outside the regionof interest as well as in regions inside the region of interest, lysingthe entire tissue section or regions larger than the region of interestresults, in some instances, in incorrect spatial reconstructionfollowing sequencing. The presence of intersections outside of theregion of interest results in target analytes tagged with a validspatial address, however the location no longer matches thereconstructed address, resulting in spatial reconstruction errors.Another complication results from the high viscosity of the lysisbuffer, which makes it difficult to constrain the buffer to the regionof interest.

To address the complications above, the present disclosure provides acustom-built clamp with an opening positioned directly over the regionof interest, which enables targeted delivery of the lysis buffer (orother extraction reagent) to the region of interest. In addition,experimental data demonstrated that the clamping pressure of the device(e.g., 10-100 newtons of force), in some instances, determined, at leastin part, the extend of lysis buffer leakage from tissue sample.

Sequencing

The methods provided herein, in some embodiments, include a sequencingstep. For example, next generation sequencing (NGS) methods (or othersequencing methods) may be used to sequence the molecules identifiedwithin a region of interest. See, e.g., Goodwin S et al. Nature ReviewsGenetics 2016; 17: 333-351, incorporated herein by reference. In someembodiments, the methods comprise preparing an NGS library in vitro.Thus, in some embodiments, the methods comprise sequencing the cDNAs toproduce cDNA reads. Other sequencing methods are known, and an exampleprotocol is provided herein.

In some embodiments, the sequencing comprises template switching thecDNAs to add a second PCR handle end sequence at an end opposite fromthe first PCR handle end sequence, amplifying the cDNAs, producingsequencing constructs via tagmentation, and sequencing the sequencingconstructs to produce the cDNA reads. Template-switching (also known astemplate-switching polymerase chain reaction (TS-PCR)) is a method ofreverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplificationthat relies on a natural PCR primer sequence at the polyadenylationsite, also known as the poly(A) tail, and adds a second primer throughthe activity of murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase (see, e.g.,Petalidis L. et al. Nucleic Acids Research. 2003; 31 (22): e142).Tagmentation refers to a modified transposition reaction, often used forlibrary preparation, and involves a transposon cleaving and taggingdouble-stranded DNA with a universal overhang. Tagmentation methods areknown.

In some embodiments, the methods comprise constructing a spatialmolecular expression map of the biological sample by matching thespatially addressable barcoded conjugates to corresponding cDNA reads.In some embodiments, the methods comprise identifying the location ofthe molecules of interest by correlating the spatial molecularexpression map to the sample image. Examples of these methods steps aredescribed above and in the Examples section.

Compositions

Also provided herein are intermediate compositions produced during themethods of constructing a molecular expression map of a biologicalsample, for example. In some embodiments, such compositions comprise abiological sample comprising messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs)comprising a polyA tail and/or proteins linked to binder-DNA tagconjugates. In some embodiments, the compositions comprise spatiallyaddressable barcoded conjugates comprising a PCR handle sequence, auniversal molecular identifier (UMI) sequence, a first spatial barcodesequence, a ligation linker sequence, a second spatial barcode sequence,and a polyT sequence, wherein the spatially addressable barcodedconjugates are bound to the mRNAs and/or proteins through hybridizationof the polyA and polyT sequences. In some embodiments, the compositionscomprise a polynucleotide comprising a universal complementary ligationlinker sequence bound to the ligation linker sequence of (b).

Kits

Also provided herein are kits for producing a molecular expression mapof a biological sample, for example. In some embodiments, the kitscomprise a first set of barcoded polynucleotides that comprise aligation linker sequence, a spatial barcode sequence, and a polyTsequence. In some embodiments, the kits comprise a second set ofbarcoded polynucleotides that comprise a ligation linker sequence, aspatial barcode sequence, a unique molecular identifier (UMI) sequence,and a first PCR handle end sequence, optionally wherein the first PCRhandle end sequence is terminally functionalized with biotin. In someembodiments, the kits comprise a polynucleotide comprising a universalcomplementary ligation linker sequence capable of binding to theligation linker sequences of the barcoded polynucleotides of the firstand second sets.

In some embodiments, the kits comprise a collection of binder-DNA tagconjugates that comprises (i) a binder molecule that specifically bindsto a molecule of interest and (ii) a DNA tag that comprises a binderbarcode and a polyA sequence.

In some embodiments, the kits comprise at least one reagent selectedfrom tissue fixation reagents, reverse transcription reagents, ligationreagents, polymerase chain reaction reagents, template switchingreagents, and sequencing reagents.

In some embodiments, the kits comprise tissue slides (e.g., glassslides).

In some embodiments, the kits comprise at least one microfluidic chipthat comprises parallel microchannels.

Additional Embodiments

The present disclosure provides the following additional embodiments:

1. A method for producing a molecular expression map of a biologicalsample, the method comprising: (a) barcoding molecules of interest in abiological sample by delivering to the biological sample spatiallyaddressable barcoded conjugates; and (b) producing a molecularexpression map of the biological sample by imaging the sample,sequencing the spatially addressable barcoded conjugates, andcorrelating sequences of the spatially addressable barcoded conjugatesto an image of the sample.2. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the biological sample is a fixedbiological sample.3. The method of paragraph 1 or 2, wherein the biological samplecomprises a cell, optionally a population of cells, and/or a tissue.4. The method of any one of paragraphs 1-3, wherein the molecules ofinterest are selected from ribonucleic acids (RNAs), optionallymessenger RNAs (mRNAs), deoxyribonucleic acids (DNAs), optionallygenomic DNAs (gDNAs), and proteins.5. The method of any one of paragraphs 1-4, comprising delivering to thebiological sample binder-DNA tag conjugates that comprise (i) a bindermolecule that specifically binds to a molecule of interest and (ii) aDNA tag, wherein the DNA tag comprises a binder barcode and a polyAsequence.6. The method of paragraph 5, wherein the binder molecule is anantibody.7. The method of paragraph 6, wherein the antibody is selected fromwhole antibodies, Fab antibody fragments, F(ab′)₂ antibody fragments,monospecific Fab₂ fragments, bispecific Fab₂ fragments, trispecific Fab₃fragments, single chain variable fragments (scFvs), bispecificdiabodies, trispecific diabodies, scFv-Fc molecules, and minibodies.8. The method of any one of paragraphs 1-7, comprising delivering to thebiological tissue a first set of barcoded polynucleotides.9. The method of paragraph 8, wherein the barcoded polynucleotides ofthe first set comprise a ligation linker sequence, a spatial barcodesequence, and a polyT sequence.10. The method of paragraph 8 or 9, wherein the first set of barcodedpolynucleotides is delivered through a first microfluidic chip thatcomprises parallel microchannels positioned on a surface of thebiological sample.11. The method of paragraph 10, wherein the first microfluidic chipcomprises at least 10, at least 20, at least 30, at least 40, or atleast 50 parallel microchannels.12. The method of any one of paragraphs 8-11, further comprisingproducing cDNAs linked to barcoded polynucleotides of the first set byexposing the biological sample to a reverse transcription reaction.13. The method of paragraph 12 further comprising delivering to thebiological sample a second set of barcoded polynucleotides.14. The method of paragraph 13, wherein the barcoded polynucleotide ofthe second set comprise a ligation linker sequence, a spatial barcodesequence, a unique molecular identifier (UMI) sequence, and a first PCRhandle end sequence, optionally wherein the first PCR handle endsequence is terminally functionalized with biotin.15. The method of paragraph 13 or 14, wherein (i) barcodedpolynucleotides of the second set are bound to a universal ligationlinker, or (ii) the method further comprises delivering to thebiological sample a universal ligation linker sequence, wherein theuniversal ligation linker comprises a sequence complementary to theligation linker sequence of the barcoded polynucleotides of the firstset and comprises a sequence complementary to the ligation linkersequence of the barcoded polynucleotides of the second set.16. The method of any one of paragraphs 13-15, wherein the second set ofbarcoded polynucleotides is delivered through a second microfluidic chipthat comprises parallel microchannels that are positioned on thebiological sample perpendicular to the direction of the microchannels ofthe first microfluidic chip.17. The method of paragraph 16, wherein the second microfluidic chipcomprises at least 10, at least 20, at least 30, at least 40, or atleast 50 parallel microchannels.18. The method of any one of paragraphs 13-17 further comprising joiningbarcoded polynucleotides of the first set to barcoded polynucleotides ofthe second set by exposing the biological sample to a ligation reaction,thereby producing a two-dimensional array of spatially addressablebarcoded conjugates bound to molecules of interest, wherein thespatially addressable barcoded conjugates comprises a unique combinationof barcoded polynucleotides from the first set and the second set.19. The method of paragraph 18 further comprising imaging the biologicalsample to produce a sample image.20. The method of paragraph 19, wherein the imaging is with an opticalor fluorescence microscope.21. The method of any one of paragraphs 18-20 further comprisingextracting cDNAs from the biological sample.22. The method of paragraph 21 further comprising sequencing the cDNAsto produce cDNA reads.23. The method of paragraph 22, wherein the sequencing comprisestemplate switching the cDNAs to add a second PCR handle end sequence atan end opposite from the first PCR handle end sequence, amplifying thecDNAs, producing sequencing constructs via tagmentation, and sequencingthe sequencing constructs to produce the cDNA reads.24. The method of paragraph 22 or 23 further comprising constructing aspatial molecular expression map of the biological sample by matchingthe spatially addressable barcoded conjugates to corresponding cDNAreads.25. The method of paragraph 24 further comprising identifying thelocation of the molecules of interest by correlating the spatialmolecular expression map to the sample image.26. A composition comprising:

(a) a biological sample comprising messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs)comprising a polyA tail and/or proteins linked to binder-DNA tagconjugates, wherein the conjugates comprises (i) a binder molecule thatspecifically binds to a molecule of interest and (ii) a DNA tag thatcomprises a binder barcode and a polyA sequence; and

(b) spatially addressable barcoded conjugates comprising a PCR handlesequence, a universal molecular identifier (UMI) sequence, a firstspatial barcode sequence, a ligation linker sequence, a second spatialbarcode sequence, and a polyT sequence, wherein the spatiallyaddressable barcoded conjugates are bound to the mRNAs and/or proteinsthrough hybridization of the polyA and polyT sequences.

27. The composition of paragraph 26 further comprising a polynucleotidecomprising a universal complementary ligation linker sequence bound tothe ligation linker sequence of (b).28. A kit comprising:

(a) a first set of barcoded polynucleotides that comprise a ligationlinker sequence, a spatial barcode sequence, and a polyT sequence; and

(b) a second set of barcoded polynucleotides that comprise a ligationlinker sequence, a spatial barcode sequence, a unique molecularidentifier (UMI) sequence, and a first PCR handle end sequence,optionally wherein the first PCR handle end sequence is terminallyfunctionalized with biotin; and

a polynucleotide comprising a universal complementary ligation linkersequence capable of binding to the ligation linker sequence of (a) and(b).

29. The kit of paragraph 28 further comprising a collection ofbinder-DNA tag conjugates that comprises (i) a binder molecule thatspecifically binds to a molecule of interest and (ii) a DNA tag thatcomprises a binder barcode and a polyA sequence.30. The kit of paragraph 28 or 29, further comprising at least onereagent selected from tissue fixation reagents, reverse transcriptionreagents, ligation reagents, polymerase chain reaction reagents,template switching reagents, and sequencing reagents.31. The kit of any one of paragraphs 28-30, further comprising tissueslides.32. The kit of any one of paragraphs 28-31, further comprising at leastone microfluidic chip that comprises parallel microchannels.

EXAMPLES

We developed a completely new technology for high-resolution (˜10 um)spatial omics sequencing. All early attempts towards spatialtranscriptomics were all based on multiplexed fluorescent in situhybridization (Chen et al., 2015; Eng et al., 2019; Lubeck et al., 2014;Perkel, 2019). Recently, a major breakthrough in the field arises fromthe use of high throughput next generation sequencing (NGS) toreconstruct spatial transcriptome maps (Rodriques et al., 2019; Stahl etal., 2016), which is unbiased, genome-wide, and presumably easier toadopt by a wider range of biological and biomedical research community.The core mechanism of these NGS-based methods to achieve spatialtranscriptomics is through a method called “barcoded solid-phase RNAcapture” (Trcek et al., 2017), which uses a DNA barcode spot array suchas ST seq (Stahl et al., 2016) or a barcoded bead array such asSlide-seq (Rodriques et al., 2019) to capture mRNAs from a freshlysectioned tissue slice placed on top and lysed to release mRNAs. Theseapproaches are still technically demanding, requiring a lengthy andsophisticated step to decode the beads, while the mRNA captureefficiency and the number of dateable genes per pixel at the 10 μm sizelevel is markedly below optimal. Additionally, it is not obvious howthey can be extended for other omics measurements. Herein, spatialDBiT-seq is a fundamentally different approach. Tissue does not need tobe lysed to release mRNAs and is compatible with existingformaldehyde-fixed tissue slides. It is highly versatile and easy tooperate. It uses, in some embodiments, only a simple microchannel deviceand a set of reagents. Conduct sophisticated sequential hybridization orSOLiD sequencing is not required to decode beads before experiments.This standalone device is highly intuitive to use with no need for anymicrofluidic handling system and thus can be readily adopted bybiologists who have no microfluidics training.

With this technology, we conducted the spatial multi-omics atlas(proteins and mRNAs) sequencing of whole mouse embryos and generatednumerous new insights. Major tissue types in a mouse embryo could beidentified during early organogenesis stages. Spatial protein and geneexpression atlas revealed a differential pattern in embryonic forebraindefined by MAdCAM1 expression. Reconstructed spatial protein expressionmap can readily resolve brain microvasculature networks, which arebarely distinguishable in tissue histology images. We furtherdemonstrated the ability to resolve a single-cell layer of melanocyteslining around the optical vesicle and discovered an asymmetric geneexpression pattern between Rorb and Aldh1a1 within the optical vesiclethat may contribute to the subsequent development of retina and lens,respectively. DBiT-seq demonstrated not only high spatial resolution butalso high quality of sequencing data with a much higher genome coverageand a greater number of genes detected per 10 μm pixel when compared toSlide-seq. This improvement enabled us to visualize the spatialexpression of individual genes whereas the Slide-seq data are too sparseto query individual genes in a meaningful way.

Thanks to the versatility of our technology, we can readily combinemultiple omics on the same pixel. As demonstrated in this work, wesimultaneously measured whole mRNA transcriptome and a panel of 22protein markers, allowing for comparing individual proteins and mRNAsfor their spatial expression patterns. We demonstrated the use ofhigh-quality spatial protein expression data to guide the tissueregion-specific transcriptome analysis for differential gene expressionand pathway analyses, leading to the new approach for mechanisticdiscovery that one type of omics data cannot readily provide. Moreover,DBiT has the capability to become a universal sample preparation step toenable high-spatial-resolution mapping of many other molecularinformation. For example, it can be applied to barcode DNA sequences forhigh-spatial-resolution Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin(ATAC) (Chen et al., 2016) and potentially for detecting chromatinmodifications via in-tissue Cut-Run (Skene and Henikoff, 2017) followedby DBiT.

This spatial barcoding approach is not limited to tissue specimens butalso applicable to single cells dispensed on a substrate to performdeterministic barcoding for massively parallel transcriptome, proteome,or epigenome sequencing. In this way, a variety of cellular assays suchas cell migration, morphology, signal transduction, drug responses, etc.can be done before hand and linked to the omics data, enabling directcorrelation of single-cell omics to live cell functions in every singlecell. This may further address a long-standing problem in the field ofsingle-cell RNA sequencing—the unavoidable perturbation of cellularstates including protein and mRNA expression during trypsinization andsingle-cell suspension preparation.

Like any other emerging technologies, DBiT-seq has limitations. First,although it is close to single-cell level mapping, it does not resolvesingle cells. However, due to the unique capability of DBiT-seq toobtain precisely matched tissue image from the same tissue slide, webelieve molecular imaging such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) orfluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) can be perform to outline theboundaries of individual cells, which could help identify how many andwhich cells are in each pixel. A large database of IHC or FISH on thesame type of tissue is used to train a machine learning (ML) neuralnetwork to predict the spatial expression in individual cells based ontissue histology. Then, the trained neural network can be applied toDBiT-seq and matched histology image to computationally reconstructsingle-cell spatial gene or protein expression atlas. Second, there is atheoretical resolution limit. Based on our validation data, this limitis ˜2 μm, which is challenging to perform using microfluidic DBiT.However, we are optimistic to push it down to ˜5 μm, in which mostpixels containing 1 or less than one cell. Third, current DBiT-seqapproach relies on a 50×50 orthogonal barcoding array, which yields a 1mm mappable area at the 10 μm pixel size. But this can be readilyexpanded by increasing the number of barcode reagents to 100×100 or even200×200 to cover a larger area of mappable region. Fourth, with thecurrent DBiT device, in some embodiments, the tissue section is placedrelatively in the center of the slide (in a 10 mm×10 mm region). Manybanked tissue slides contain tissue sections on different locations ofthe slide. To solve this problem, a microfluidic device with alarge-sized reagent delivery handle chip bonded onto a small flowbarcoding chip can be fabricated such that the footprint required toattach the microfluidic flow barcoding region to the slide is muchsmaller and can be aligned the tissue section anywhere on the slide.

In summary, we report on an enabling and versatile technology referredto herein as microfluidic deterministic barcoding in tissue (DBiT) toperform high-resolution spatial barcoding to simultaneously measure, forexample, mRNA transcriptome and a panel of proteins on a fixed tissueslide at high spatial resolution (10 μm), in an unbiased manner, and atthe genome-wide scale. DBiT-seq is a fundamentally different approachfor spatial omics and has the potential to become a universal method formapping a range of molecular information (proteins, transcriptome, andepigenome). The potential impacts could be broad and far-reaching inmany different fields of basic and translational research includingembryology, neuroscience, cancer and clinical pathology.

Example 1. DBiT-Seq Workflow

The workflow of DBiT-seq is described in FIG. 5A. It does not require anewly microtomed tissue section to start with as a standard tissue slidethat has already been fixed and banked is compatible with our approach.If a frozen tissue section were the starting material, it can betransferred to a poly-L-lysine coated slide, fixed with formaldehyde,and stored in −80° C. until use. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)microfluidic chip containing parallel microchannels (down to 10 μm inwidth) is placed on the tissue slide to introduce a set of DNA barcodesolutions (FIG. 5C). Each barcode is composed of an oligo-dT sequencefor binding mRNAs and a distinct barcode Ai (i=1 to 50). Reversetranscription is conducted during the first flow for in situ synthesisof cDNAs that immediately incorporate barcodes A1-A50. Then, this PDMSchip is removed and another PDMS chip is placed on the same tissue withthe microchannels perpendicular to those in the first flow barcoding.Next, a second set of barcodes Bj (j=1 to 50) are flowed in to initiatein situ ligation that occurs only at the intersections, resulting in amosaic of tissue pixels, each of which has a distinct combination ofbarcodes Ai and Bj (i=1 to 50 and j=1 to 50). The tissue slide beingprocessed is imaged during each flow as well as after both flows suchthat the exact tissue region comprising each pixel can be identifiedunambiguously. To perform multi-omic measurements of proteins and mRNAs,the tissue slide is first stained with a cocktail of antibody-derivedtags (ADTs) (Stoeckius et al., 2017) prior to microfluidic flowbarcoding. The ADTs have a polyadenylated tail that allows for detectingproteins using a workflow similar to detecting mRNAs. After forming aspatially barcoded tissue mosaic, cDNAs are collected,template-switched, and PCR amplified to make a sequencing library. Using100×100 pair-ended NGS sequencing, we can detect spatial barcodes (AiBj,i=1-200, j=1-200) of all pixels and the corresponding transcripts andproteins to computationally reconstruct a spatial expression atlas. Itis worth noting that unlike other methods, DBiT permits the same tissueslide being imaged with microfluidic channels to precisely locate thepixels and perform correlative analysis of tissue morphology and omicsat high resolution and high accuracy.

Example 2. Barcode Design and Chemistry

The key elements of DNA barcodes and the chemistry to perform DBiT isdescribed in FIG. 5B. To detect proteins of interest, the tissue isfirstly labeled with ADTs, each of which consists of a unique antibodybarcode (15mer, see Table 1) and a poly-A tail. Barcode A contains a15mer ligation linker, a unique spatial barcode Ai (i=1-50, 8mer, seeTable 3), and a 16mer poly-T sequence, which binds mRNAs and ADTsthrough binding to poly-A tail. After permeabilization, DNA barcodesA1-A50 are flowed in along with a reverse transcriptase mixture andreverse transcription is conducted in situ to generate cDNAs as well asincorporate barcode A in the tissue stripes within individualmicrochannels. Barcode B consists of a 15mer ligation linker, a uniquespatial barcode Bj (j=1-50, 8mer, see Table 3), a 10mer unique molecularidentifier (UMI), and a 22mer PCR handle terminally functionalized withbiotin, which is used later to perform cDNA purification withstreptavidin-coated magnetic beads. During the second flow to introducebarcodes B1-B50, a complementary ligation linker and the T4 ligase arealso introduced to initiate in situ ligation of barcodes A and B only atthe intersections of two flow, which completes the deterministicbarcoding of a tissue slide and yields a mosaic of tissue pixels withdistinct barcodes in each of the 50×50=2,500 pixels. This chemistry isversatile and can be readily expanded to a larger array (e.g.,100×100=10,000) of pixels or extended to other omics measurement bychanging the binding chemistry from poly-T to, for example, spicing-sitespecific sequences.

Example 3. Enabling Microfluidic Devices with HSR

To explore enabling HSR using the microfluidic devices described here,we experimented with values for ω and Δ of 10, 25 and 50 microns. Herewe review the key challenges we faced in enabling devices with theseparameters, and the solutions we invented to overcome them.

Aspect ratios. We experimented with a wide range of aspect ratios forthe 10, 25, and 50 μm devices. Though those skilled in the art willrecognize that microchannels can typically display a wide range ofwidths and heights, it turns out that only aspect ratios within acertain band perform well when being clamped onto tissue (which isnecessary for various reasons; see below).

Because the microfluidic devices described here include open spaces(channels) followed by solid layers of PDMS (walls), the walls may bethought of as pillars or columns, with width equal to Δ, the channelpitch, and height equal to the depth of the mold from which the PDMSdevice was molded. For the SU-8 molds we used to create our devices,heights typically range from a few microns to a hundred microns.However, we found that for each choice of A, choosing a height that wastoo small resulted in channels that clogged very easily (see FIG. 6, topleft and top middle panels). This is due to the tissue itself beingforced into the channel during clamping and stopping or selectivelyrestricting flow. This can be avoided by utilizing very large heights.However, this results in the channel walls being unstable and thenbuckling during clamping (see FIG. 6, top right panel). We tested arange of values for the channel heights that achieve the results shownin the bottom panels of FIG. 6, by creating channels that are deepenough to avoid clogging, but with walls stable enough to avoidbuckling.

Channel and wall width Minimum functioning Maximum functioning (microns)height (microns) height (microns) 10 12 15 25 17 22 50 20 100

Example 4. Microfluidic Device for the DBiT Process

The PDMS microfluidic chip design in this example includes 50 parallelmicrochannels in the center which are connected to the same number ofinlet and outlets on two sides of the PDMS slab. It is made of siliconerubber, which is sticky to the glass slide surface and can be placed onthe tissue slide to introduce solution without noticeable leakage if nopositive pressure is applied. To further assist the assembly, a simpleclamp is used to hold the PDMS firmly against the slide at the tissuespecimen region (FIG. 7A). The inset (inlet) holes which are −2 mm indiameter and 4 mm in depth allow the ˜5 μL of barcode reagents to bedirectly pipetted with no need for any microfluidic handling setup. Theoutlet holes are roofed with a global cover connected to a house vacuumto pull the reagents from the insets (inlets) into the tissue region. Ittakes several seconds to pull the solution from inlets through outletsfor a 50 μm microfluidic chip and up to 3 min for a 10 μm microfluidicchip. After flow barcoding, the microfluidic chip is sonicated andrinsed with 0.5M NaOH solution and DI water for reuse. Thus, this devicerequires no sophistic microfluidic control systems, can be readilyassembled by a scientist with no experience in microfluidics, and theworkflow is readily adoptable in a conventional biology laboratory.

Example 5. Evaluation of DBiT Using Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization(FISH)

Although no noticeable leakage was observed between microchannels duringthe vacuum driven flow barcoding, it is unclear if the DNA barcodesolutions could diffuse through the tissue matrix and result incross-contamination. The diffusion distance in an aqueous solutiondecreases substantially with the increase of molecular size, which wasutilized to perform diffusion-limited reagent exchange in microfluidicsfor multiple chemistry reactions. We hypothesize that the diffusionthrough a dense matrix is even more restricted. A validation experimentwas designed to monitor our workflow step by step using fluorescentprobes and to evaluate the effect of diffusion underneath themicrochannel walls (FIGS. 7B and 7C, and data not shown). We conjugatedbarcodes A(1-50) with fluorophore Cy3 and barcodes B(1-50) withfluorophore FITC, and then imaged the tissue during and after DBiT at a50 μm pixel resolution. The first flow is supposed to yield stripes ofCy3 signal corresponding to barcodes A hybridized in situ to tissuemRNAs. We observed distinct stripe pattern with no visually noticeablediffusion between stripes. The second flow adds barcodes B only to theintersections, yielding isolated squares of FITC signal, which isexactly our observation (FIG. 7B). Due to autofluorescence of tissueexcited by blue light (488 nm), the faint fluorescence appears inbetween squares but the average intensity is an order of magnitudelower. We also used a layer of human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) grown on a glass slide and fixed with formaldehyde to mimic athin “tissue” section (FIG. 1D), which had a higher surface roughnessand served as a stringent model to evaluate the leakage acrossmicrochannels. Small molecule dye DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole,staining for nuclear DNA) and fluorophore-labeled anti-human VE-Cadherin(staining for endothelial cell-cell junction, red) were used in thefirst and the second flow, respectively. When a microchannel wall cutthrough one cell or one nucleus, fluorescence signal was observed onlyin the half within the microchannel (FIG. 7C and data not shown). Toevaluate the possibility of DNA diffusion through the tissue matrixunderneath the microchannel wall, a 3D fluorescence confocal image wascollected, which confirmed negligible leakage signal throughout thetissue section thickness (FIG. 7D). These images were taken when using a50 μm device without clamp. To evaluate the feasibility of reducing to10 μm flow barcoding, we performed a full DBiT using fluorescentbarcodes B with FITC and observed a clean pattern of fluorescence pixels(FIG. 7E and data not shown). Interestingly, this pan-mRNA FISH signalin each tissue pixel is not uniform but can reflect the underlying cellmorphology. As mentioned above, our approach allows for the imaging ofthe same tissue slide during and after flow barcoding. We found that theclamping step compressed the tissue underneath the microchannel wallsand led to localized plastic deformation. As a result, the light fieldoptical image of the tissue region processed by cross-flow barcodingshow imprinted topological patterns with readily distinguishable tissuepixels, which can be used to assist the correlation of tissue histologywith spatial omics sequencing data. The compressed tissue regionunderneath the microchannel walls has a higher matrix density and mayfurther reduce the diffusion distance. We used the fluorescenceintensity line profile (FIG. 7E) to calculate thehalf-peak-width-intensity increase, which represents a quantitativemeasure of the “diffusion” distance between microchannels. It turned outto only 0.9±0.2 μm for 10 μm flow channels operated with clamp and 4.5±1μm for 50 μm flow channels without clamp (FIG. 7F). Thus, we speculatethe theoretical limit of DBiT spatial resolution can be as good as ˜2μm.

Example 6. Evaluation of DBiT-Seq Data Quality

The PCR amplicons were analyzed for cDNA size distribution, which peaksat 900-1100 bp for a sample fixed right after preparation (data notshown). A frozen tissue section slide left at room temperature for 24hours or longer led to significant degradation and the shift of the mainpeak to ˜350 bp. However, after fixation and flow barcoding, it stillresulted in usable sequencing data for quantification of geneexpression. A HiSeq pair-ended (100×100) sequencing was conducted toidentify spatial barcodes and the expression of proteins and mRNAs oneach pixel. The alignment was done using DropSeq tools Macosko et al.,2015) to extract UMI, Barcode A and Barcode B, from Read 2. Theprocessed read was trimmed, mapped against the mouse genome (GRCh38),demultiplexed annotation (Gencode release M11) using the SpatialTranscriptomics pipeline reported previously (Navarro et al., 2017).With that, similar to scRNA-seq quality evaluation, we calculated thetotal number of transcripts reads (UMIs) per pixel and the total numberof genes detected (FIG. 7G and data not shown). Compared with theliterature data from Slide-seq (Rodriques et al., 2019) and the lowresolution Spatial Transcriptomics (ST) sequencing data (Stahl et al.,2016), our data from a 10 μm DBiT-seq experiment was able to detect22,969 genes in total and 2,068 genes per pixel. In contrast, Slide-seq,which has the same pixel size (10 μm), detected ˜ 150 genes per pixel(spot). It is worth pointing out that this significant improvement indata quality allows DBiT-seq to directly visualize the expressionpattern of individual genes but Slide-seq could not do that in ameaningful way due to data sparsity. The number of UMIs or genes perpixel detected by low-resolution ST method is similar to our approachbut the size of the pixel in ST is ˜100-150 μm, which is ˜100× larger inarea. This marked increase in data quality is presumably attributed tothe uniqueness in flow barcoding method that does not require a tissuelysis step to release mRNAs and avoids the loss of released mRNAsbecause of their lateral diffusion into the solution phase. Although ithas long been recognized that retrieving mRNAs from fixed tissuespecimens for NGS sequencing has decreased yield due to degradation,recent studies showed that the quality of mRNAs in tissue remainslargely intact but rather, it is the tissue lysis and RNA retrieval stepthat leads to the degradation and the consequential poor recovery.

Example 7. Whole Mouse Embryo Spatial Multi-Omics Atlas Mapping

The dynamics of embryonic development, in particular, the formation ofdifferent organs (organogenesis) at the early stages, is intricatelycontrolled spatiotemporally. The results from a large number oflaboratories around the world and obtained using a range of techniquessuch as FISH, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and RNAseq, have beenintegrated to generate a relatively complete mouse embryo geneexpression database such as eMouseAtlas (Armit et al., 2017). Thus, thedeveloping mouse embryos are well suited for validation of a new spatialomics technology by providing known reference data for comparison. Weapplied DBiT-seq to a E.10 whole mouse embryo tissue slide at a pixelsize of 50 μm to computationally construct a spatial multi-omics atlas.The tissue histology image from an adjacent section was stained for H&E(Haemotoxylin and Eosin) (FIG. 8A left). The read counts of mRNAtranscripts in individual pixels, equivalent to pan-mRNA detection, areshown as a spatial heatmap (FIG. 8A middle), which is found to correlatewell with tissue density and H&E morphology. The total read counts froma panel of 22 protein markers (see Table 1) combined in each pixelappear to be more uniform and less dependent on tissue density andmorphology (FIG. 8A right). The quality of sequencing data is excellentwith an average of ˜4500 genes detected per pixel, which is higher thanthat in the 10 μm-pixel DBiT-seq data (FIG. 7G), due in part to thelarger pixel size and subsequent increased cell type diversity perpixel. To benchmark DBiT-seq data, we aggregated the mRNA expressionprofiles of all pixels for each E10 embryo sample to generate“pseudo-bulk” data, which were compared to the “pseudo-bulk” datagenerated from scRNA-seq of E9.5 to E13.5 mouse embryos (Cao et al.,2019) using un-supervised clustering (FIG. 8B). We observed consistenttemporal developmental classification visualized in UMAP with four E10DBiT-seq samples localized between E9.5 and E10.5 data from thereference (Cao et al., 2019). Unsupervised clustering of all pixelsbased on mRNA transcriptomes reveals eleven major clusters (FIG. 8C) asshown in a tSNE plot that, once mapped back to the spatial atlas, arefound to correlate with the major tissue types at this stage includingtelencephalon (forebrain), mesencephalon (midbrain), rhombencephalon(hindbrain), branchial arches, spinal neural tube, heart, limb bud, andventral and dorsal side of main body for early internal organdevelopment (FIG. 8D). We anticipate more tissue subtypes to beidentified using higher resolution DBiT-seq. Based upon literaturedatabase and the classical Kaufman's Atlas of Mouse Development (Baldockand Armit, 2017), we performed anatomical annotations of 13 major tissuetypes (FIG. 8E), among which 9 were identified by unsupervisedclustering. Interestingly, even at this resolution (pixel size=50 μm),some fine features identified by clustering—such as the small clustersin the middle of the brain and a distinct stripe of pixels between thedorsal and ventral layers of the body—are not readily distinguishable inH&E. The former is indicative of early eye and ear development and thelatter is less clear but may correlate with the dorsal aorta.

Example 8. Correlation Between Proteins and mRNAs in Spatial ExpressionPatterns

While single-cell RNA/protein co-sequencing such as CITE-seq candirectly compare the expression level of individual proteins to cognatemRNAs in a cell, the correlation between their spatial expressionpatterns in the tissue context are missing. Herein, high quality spatialmulti-omics data allows for head-to-head comparison between individualproteins and mRNA transcripts pixel-by-pixel in a tissue. As such, all22 proteins analyzed are compared with their corresponding mRNAs (datanot shown). Selected mRNA/protein pairs are discussed below (FIG. 8G).Notch signaling plays a crucial role in regulating a vast array ofembryonic developmental processes. Notch1 protein is found to be highlyexpressed throughout the whole embryo, which is consistent with theobservation of extensive Notch1 mRNA expression although it appears tomirror the tissue density. CD63 is an essential player in controllingcell development, growth, proliferation, and motility. Its mRNAtranscript is indeed expressed extensively in the whole embryo with ahigher expression in hindbrain and heart. Pan-EC-Antigen (PECA) orMECA-32, as a pan-endothelial marker, is expressed in many tissueregions, but the spatial pattern is difficult to identify at thisresolution. The expression of EpCAM, a pan-epithelial marker, is highlylocalized in terms of both mRNA and protein, the expression patterns ofwhich are also highly consistent. Several other genes are discussed asbelow. Integrin subunit alpha 4 (ITGA4), known to be critical inepicardial development, is indeed highly expressed in embryonicepicardium but also observed in many other tissue regions. Its proteinexpression is seen throughout the whole embryo. Many genes show strongdiscordance between mRNA and protein such as NPR1. A pan-leukocyteprotein marker CD45 is seen extensively but apparently enriched in thedorsal aorta region and brain, although the expression level of itscognate mRNA Ptprc is low. We further generate a comprehensive chart oftissue region-specific mRNAs and proteins by calculating the averageexpression in each of 13 anatomically annotated tissue regions (FIG.8H). Next, to validate the DBiT-seq data, immunofluorescence wasperformed using antibodies to stain for P2RY12 (microglia in centralnerve system) PECA (endothelium), and EpCAM (epithelium). We observed ahighly consistent pattern of EpCAM between immunostaining and DBiT-seq(FIG. 8I). Spatial transcriptome sequencing (without ADTs) was repeatedwith a separate E.10 embryo tissue slide and the results are consistent(data not shown). Finally, a “bulk” transcriptional profile could bederived from spatial DBiT-seq data and compared to scRNA-seq of mouseembryos E9.5-E13.5, which revealed that our data are correctlypositioned in the UMap when compared to literature data (Cao et al.,2019).

Example 9. Spatial Multi-Omics Mapping of an Embryonic Brain

We conducted DBiT-seq with 25 μm pixel size to analyze the brain regionof an E10 mouse embryo (FIGS. 9A-9G). As compared to the 50 μmexperiment (FIG. 8A-8F), pan-mRNA and pan-protein UMI count maps (FIG.9C) showed finer structures that correlated with tissue morphology (FIG.9B). We surveyed all 22 individual proteins (Figure S4A) and observeddistinct expression patterns in at least 12 proteins with four shown inFIG. 9D. CD63 was expressed extensively except in a portion of theforebrain. PECA, a pan-endothelial cell marker, was unambiguouslydetected in brain microvasculature, which was not readilydistinguishable in tissue histology. EpCAM was localized in highlydefined regions as thin as a single line of pixels (˜25 μm) with highsignal-to-noise ratio. MAdCAM was differentially expressed in asub-region of the forebrain with distinct gene expression signatures(data not shown). To validate these observations, we performedimmunofluorescence staining using nearby tissue sections from the sameembryo to detect EpCAM and PECA. Spatial expression maps obtained byDBiT-seq and immunofluorescence staining were superimposed onto a H&Eimage and their line profiles were drawn for quantitative comparison(FIG. 9E). The major peaks agreed with each other although somediscordance in exact peak positions was observed because differenttissue sections were used for DBiT-seq and immunofluorescence. Finally,we performed unsupervised clustering of all the pixels using their mRNAexpression profiles and identified 10 distinct clusters, characterizedby specific marker genes (FIG. 9F). We then plotted the spatialdistribution of pixels in four representative clusters against the H&Eimage (FIG. 9G). Pathway analysis of marker genes revealed that cluster1 was mainly involved in telencephalon development, cluster 2 associatedwith erythrocytes in blood vessels, clusters 3 implicated inaxonogenesis, and clusters 4 corresponding to cardiac muscledevelopment, in good agreement with anatomical annotations. Cluster 2,enriched for hemoglobulin genes in red blood cells, coincided with PECAprotein expression that delineated endothelial microvasculature. Wefurther demonstrated that high-quality spatial protein mapping data canbe used to guide genome-wide spatial gene expression analysis.

Example 10. High-Spatial-Resolution Mapping of Early Eye Development

We conducted further spatial transcriptome mapping of the developing eyefield in a E10 mouse embryo using 10 μm microfluidic channels and theresultant pan-mRNA UMI heatmap was superimposed onto the whole mouseembryo tissue image (FIG. 10A). An enlarged view of the mapped regionshowed the imprinted morphology and individual pixels. An adjacenttissue section was stained for H&E (FIG. 10B). At this stage (E10), theeye development likely reaches a late optic vesicle stage. Four geneswere identified within the optic vesicle with distinct but spatiallycorrelated expression patterns (FIG. 10C and data not shown). Pax6 wasexpressed in the optic vesicle and stalk (Heavner and Pevny, 2012; Smithet al., 2009). Pme1, a pigment cell-specific gene (Kwon et al., 1991)involved in developing fibrillar sheets, was observed around the opticvesicle. Six6, a gene known for specification and proliferation ofretinal cells in vertebrate embryos, was mainly localized within theoptical vesicle but not the optic stalk (Heavner and Pevny, 2012). Trpm1lined the optic vesicle showing minimal overlap with Six6. It is knownthat the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) consists of asingle-cell-layer of melabocytes lining around an optic vesicle, whichwas successfully detected by DBiT-seq with markers like Pme1 and Trpm1(Mort et al., 2015). We further performed GO analysis to identify majorpathways and signature genes (data not shown). Eye development andmelanin pathways emerged as the two major categories. Additionally, weperformed 10 μm DBiT-seq on an E11 mouse embryo and compared it with E10side-by-side for the eye field region (FIG. 10D). The expressionpatterns of Pme1, Pax6 and Six6 around the eye were similar between E10and E11 embryo, but showed spatial changes as the optic cup started toform in E11 (Yun et al., 2009). Additionally, we analyzed other genesknown to be involved in early eye formation (FIGS. 10E, 10F and 10G).Aldh1a1, a gene encoding Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family Member A1, wasobserved in the dorsal retina whereas Aldh1a3 was mainly located at theventral side and RPE. The spatial patterning of Aldh1a1 and Aldh1a3within the eye field and the changes from E10 to E11 were in agreementwith literature, showing that the Aldh1a family genes differentiallycontrol the dorsal-ventral polarization in embryonic eye development(Matt et al., 2005). We noticed that Msx1, a gene highly expressed inboth ciliary muscle and ciliary epithelium as the structural support ofeye (Zhao et al., 2002), was mainly surrounding the eye field in bothE10 and E11 embryos. Gata3, a gene pivotal for eye closure, was enrichedat the front end of the eye field to control the shape of eye duringdevelopment. Our data allowed for high-spatial-resolution visualizationof genome-wide gene expression in early stage eye field development.

Example 11. Direct Integration with Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Data

We observed additional tissue features based on the spatial expressionpattern of 19 top ranked genes (data not shown) but the cell types couldnot be readily identified. Since the pixel size (10 μm) in thisexperiment was approaching cellular level, we speculated that it ispossible to directly integrate data from scRNA-seq and DBiT-seq to infercell types and visualize spatial distribution. scRNA-seq data from E9.5and E10.5 mouse embryos (Cao et al., 2019) were combined with DBiT-seqdata (10 μm pixel size) from an E10 mouse embryo to perform unsupervisedclustering (FIG. 10H). We found that the spatial pixels conformed wellinto single cell transcriptomes and together identified 24 clusters inthe combined dataset (FIG. 10I). Each cluster was mapped back to itsspatial distribution in tissue (8 clusters are shown in FIG. 10J). Wefurther used scRNA-seq data as a reference for cell type annotation(FIG. 10K) and the reported 53 cell types were directly compared toDBiT-seq data (black) in UMAP, allowing for detecting the dominant celltype in each pixel (10 μm). Then, we could link scRNA-seq-annotated celltypes to corresponding spatial pixels and visualize cell typedistribution on the tissue. First, we examined spatial pixels inclusters 2, 8 and 22 (see a in FIG. 10H) and the dominant cell typeswere found to be retina trajectory, retina epithelium, andoligodendrocyte. Mapping cell type-annotated pixels to the tissue imageshowed that retina trajectory and retina epithelium cells were indeedlocalized within the optic vesicle while oligodendrocytes were localizedin three tissue regions with one corresponding to optic stalk right nextto optic vesicle, in agreement with the observation that multiplesub-clusters of oligodendrocyte pixels were present (FIG. 10L). Second,spatial pixels in the region b of FIG. 10H were detected only inclusters 14 and 16, which were found to be dominated by erythroid andendothelial cells. Mapping them back to the tissue image revealedmicrovessels (endothelial) and blood clots (erythroid) at the upperright corner (FIG. 10M). Third, we also analyzed spatial pixels in c-fof FIG. 10H and the corresponding clusters 0, 4, 19, and 20,respectively. Linking spatial pixels to cell types revealed (c)connective tissues as the structural support of eye formation, (d)epithelial cells forming the pituitary gland, muscle cells (e)surrounding the trigeminal sensory nerve for facial touch sensing, andganglion neurons (f) in the trigeminal sensor itself (FIG. 10N). Thus,DBiT-seq with 10 μm pixel size can be directly integrated with scRNA-seqto infer cell types and visualize spatial distribution in the tissuecontext.

Example 12. Clustering Analysis of 11 Embryo Samples Across DifferentStages (E10-12)

To further understand the early development of mouse embryo over time,we integrated the DBiT-seq data of 11 mouse embryo tissue samples fromthree stages, E10, E11 and E12 (FIGS. 11A-11D) and conductedunsupervised clustering, which showed 20 clusters visualized byt-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) (FIGS. 11A and 11B)and the top differentially expressed genes (FIG. 11C). Cluster 2 wasassociated with muscle system processes with the Myl gene familypreferentially expressed and the pixels in this cluster were mainly fromthree E11 tail samples (see FIG. 11A). Although the pixels from the samesample were clustered together without batch normalization, some sampleslike “E11 Tail (25 μm) 1” showed multiple distant clusters (FIG. 11Dleft panel), indicating significant difference of tissue types in thissample. The large pixels (50 μm) tend to locate away from the origin ofthe UMAP presumably because they covered many more cells and possessed ahigher degree of cell diversity within a pixel. In contrast, the 10 μmpixels were clustered around the center of the UMAP, indicating aconvergence to single-cell-level gene expression. E10, E11 and E12pixels were spaced out along the same trajectory (left to right)consistent with the development stages although these samples werehugely different, so that they were mapped for different tissue regions(head vs tail) and of different pixel sizes (10, 25 vs 50 μm) (FIG. 11Dright panel).

Examples 13. Spatial Mapping of Internal Organ Development

Sample “E11 Tail (25 μm) 1” showed multiple distinct sub-clusters in theglobal UMAP (FIG. 11D left panel) which made us wonder what cell typesconstitute these clusters (see enlarged view in FIG. 12A). Foursubclusters (a, b, c and d) were mapped back to the tissue image, whichrevealed distinct spatial patterns for all of them (FIG. 12B).Clustering analysis of all pixels in this sample identified 13 clustersvisualized in both UMAP (FIG. 12C) and spatial map (FIG. 12D). To unveilthe identities of these spatial patterns, we again use scRNA-seq asreference (Cao et al., 2019) to perform automated cell type annotations(FIG. 12E) with SingleR (Aran et al., 2019). The dominant cell types inthese spatial clusters (a, b, c, and d) were associated with differentinternal organs such as liver (cluster a), neutral tube (cluster b),heart (cluster c), and blood vessels containing coagulated erythrocytes(cluster d) (FIG. 12G). We further visualized the spatial expression of8 representative marker genes (FIG. 12F). Myh6, a gene encoding Myosinheavy chain a, was highly expressed in atria, while Myh7 (encodingmyosin heavy chain j) was the predominant isoform expressed inventricular muscle, allowing for not only detecting cardiac muscle cellsbut also differentiating between atria vs ventricle of an embryonicheart. Pax6 was expressed in region-specific neural progenitors in theneural tube. Car3, which encodes carbonic anhydrase III and expressed inslow twitch skeletal muscles, specifically delineated the formation ofnotochord. Apoa2, which encodes apolipoprotein E, is liver specific.Hemoglobin a encoding gene, Hba.a2, normally found in red blood cells,indicated the coagulated erythrocytes in both large vessels like dorsalaorta and microvessels in multiple organs. It was also found in theblood clots inside atria. Col4a1, which encodes a specific collagen, thetype IV alpha1, produced by endothelial cells to form the basementmembrane, precisely lined the inner surface of the dorsal aorta, whichsupposedly consisted of a single layer of endothelial cells. It was alsoexpressed in heart presumably at endocardium and coronary arties. Actb,which encodes β-actin, a widely used reference or housekeeping gene, wasexpressed extensively throughout the embryo but showed lower expressionin, for example, nervous tissues. We also compiled the “pseudo bulk”expression data by aggregating pixels in three major organs (heart,liver and neutral tube) and compared with the ENCODE bulk RNA-seq dataside-by-side, which revealed excellent concordance (Pearson CorrelationCoefficient=˜0.8) (data not shown).

Example 14. Automated Feature Identification with SpatialDE

Spatial differential expression (spatialDE) pipeline (Svensson et al.,2018a) previously developed for ST data analysis was evaluated in ourstudy for automated discovery of spatial tissue features without usingscRNA-seq for cell type annotation. In addition to the major pathwaysassociated with eye development in FIGS. 10A-10E, spatialDE identified20 features (FIG. 13A) including eye, ear, muscle, forebrain, andepithelium, which are in agreement with scRNA-seq based cell typeidentification. In contrast, some features were hardly distinguishablein the corresponding tissue image such as ear (presumably due to tooearly stage in the developmental process) and forebrain (barely coveredin the mapped tissue region). SpatialDE was applied to the data in FIGS.12A-12G and detected not only heart, liver, dorsal aorta, and neuraltube as previously discussed but also a small fraction of lung budcovered in the mapped tissue region. Many internal organs begin todevelop at the stage of E10 but barely distinguishable. To furtherevaluate the potential for spatialDE to detect more distinct organs ortissues, an E12 mouse embryo was analyzed using DBiT-seq. Interestingly,in only ⅓ of the whole embryo tissue section, spatialDE identified 40distinct features including heart, lung, urogenital system, digestivesystem, and male gonad (testis) (see FIG. 12C). Many of these featureswere still too early to identify based on tissue morphology. We alsorevisited the E10 whole mouse embryo (FIGS. 8A-8F) and E11 lower bodyDBiT-seq data (FIGS. 12A-12G), and identified ˜20 and ˜25 distinctfeatures, respectively (data not shown), which were less than that fromthe E12 sample, indicating that the features newly identified in E12were associated with the developmental process and the emergence ofinternal organs at this stage.

Example 15. Combing Immunofluorescence Staining and DBiT-Seq on the SameTissue Section

Lastly, we demonstrated DBiT-seq with immunofluorescence stained tissuesections. A E11 mouse embryo tissue slide was stained with DAPI,phalloidin and red fluorescent labelled P2RY12 antibody (a Gprotein-coupled receptor) (FIG. 14A-14H). Then, we performed DBiT-seq.When the microfluidic chip was still on the tissue slide, we imaged themicrofluidic channels and the tissue immunofluorescence. With DAPIstaining for nucleus, we could conduct cell segmentation using ImageJ(FIG. 14E). The immunostaining also enabled us to select the pixels ofinterest such as those containing single cells or those showing specificprotein expression to study the association between morphologicalcharacteristics, protein expression, and transcriptome (FIGS. 14G and14H). Immunofluorescence staining is widely used in tissue pathology tomeasure spatial protein expression at the cellular or sub-cellularlevel. Combining immunofluorescence with DBiT-seq at the cellular level(10 μm pixel size) on the same tissue slide could improve the mapping ofspatial omics data to specific cell types.

Example 16

In clinic, tissue samples are routinely prepared as formalin fixedparaffin embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks instead of fresh frozen formatdue to the easiness of tissue handling, storage, and transportation.Meanwhile, for diagnostic purpose, tissue morphology of FFPE sample iswell preserved, especially after prolonged storage. Consequently, thereare a large number of banked clinical FFPE tissue samples readilyavailable in hospitals and research institutions, which could serve asexploitable source for molecular studies¹. However, during the samplepreparation and storage, the RNA of FFPE tissue often lose its integrityand become partially degraded and fragmented². The most common practicefor transcriptome study is through bulk extraction and sequencing, butdetailed and important cellular level and spatial information of tissueare lost^(3, 4). The formalin fixation procedure also hampered theapplications of traditional microfluidic based scRNA-seq techniques inthis field.

Spatial transcriptome techniques, needless of general tissue digestionprocess, emerged recently to study gene expression in tissue sections.Until now, dozens of elegant spatial RNA-seq technique have beenreported, either through hybridization with fluorescent probes⁵⁻⁸ orreverse transcription-based next generation sequencing⁹⁻¹². However, themain focus to date is still on fresh frozen (FF) samples, which barehigh quality and non-cross-linked RNA.

Above, we show DBiT-seq as a high spatial resolution multi-omics tool toanalyze PFA-fixed frozen tissue sections. In this Example, wedemonstrate that DBiT-seq can also be applied to FFPE tissue sectionswith some protocol modifications. We first demonstrated the wholetranscriptomic analysis of an E10.5 mouse embryo. Results show that thegene numbers identified per pixel were sufficient for downstreamanalysis. The new protocol faithfully detected the major tissue types inearly mouse brain and midbody. Integration analysis with publiclyavailable scRNA-seq datasets showed major cell types in each of theorgans. We then applied the new protocol to tissue sections of the adultmouse heart and circulatory system (aorta, atrium and ventricle) andobtained the cell distribution maps.

Results

Workflow of DBiT-Seq with FFPE Sample

The main workflow for FFPE samples were shown in FIG. 17A. The bankedFFPE tissue block was first microtomed into sections of 5-7 μm thicknessand placed onto a poly-L-lysine slide. To reduce further RNA oxidativedegradation by air exposure, the FFPE sections were stored at −80° C.prior to use. The deparaffinization was carried out using xylene wash.Afterwards, the tissue section was rehydrated and permeabilized byproteinase K, and then post-fixed again by formalin. The deparaffinizedtissue section showing a darkened color (FIG. 17B) was then ready forDBiT-seq. Briefly, the 1^(st) PDMS chip with 50 parallel channels wasattached onto the section and a set of DNA barcode A oligos were flowedthrough the channels along with reverse transcription reagents.In-tissue reverse transcription would produce cDNAs with barcode Aincorporated at the 3′ end. After removing the 1^(st) chip, a 2^(nd)PDMS chip with another 50 channels perpendicular to the first PDMS chipwas placed on top of the tissue. Ligation was then performed in each ofthe channels with the flowing of 50 distinct barcode B oligos plus auniversal ligation linker, which matched with a piece of linker sequenceof barcode A. The ligation would only occur at the intersections of thetwo flows. Afterwards, the tissue was imaged and digested completely.The digest was collected and the downstream procedures, including cDNAextraction, template switch, PCR, tagmentation were performed beforenext generation sequencing.

DBiT-Seq Data Quality

The attachment of PDMS chip to the “soft” tissue sections were enforcedby clumps, and the clumping would cause the deformation of tissuesections under the channel walls. As a consequence, after two sequentialPDMS chip attachments and flowing, we observed the appearance of anorderly array of squares on the tissue section (FIG. 17C), which allowsthe precise identification of location and topography of tissue pixels.We first analyzed the cDNA size for a FFPE mouse embryo sample andcompared with a Fresh Frozen sample (FF data not shown). We noticed thatthe size of FFPE sample peaked between 400 and 500 bps, much shorterthan the fresh frozen sample with peaks over 1000 bps. The average sizeis also case, with ˜600 bps for FFPE and over 1,400 bps for freshfrozen. Apparently, overtime degradation indeed affected the integrityof RNAs. Next, we calculated the total genes and unique molecularidentifiers (UMIs) per pixel (FIG. 17D). For FFPE samples, we found theresults were quite diverse among different sample types. For mouseembryo, there are on average 520 UMIs and 355 genes identified perpixel. While for mouse aorta, the average numbers per pixel increased to1830 UMIs and 663 genes. The average UMIs and genes per pixel in FFPEmouse atrium and ventricle were even higher, showing 3014 UMIs and 1040genes for atrium and 2140 UMIs and 832 genes for ventricle. Incomparison, we revisited the dataset of a fresh frozen mouse embryosample analyzed by DBiT-seq, which showed an average of 4688 UMIs and2100 genes. The comparison between FFPE sample and fresh frozen samplesclearly showed that FFPE sample was showing around 1/9 of the UMIs or ⅙of the genes per pixel of a fresh frozen sample. We calculated thePearson correlation coefficient between the “pseudo bulk” dataset ofFFPE and fresh frozen sample and found the r value is ˜0.88 (data notshown), which shows a high correlation between the two types of sampledespite the high variances from tissue origins or lineage. We alsocompared with fresh frozen coronal hippocampus sample analyzed by therecent 10 μm spot size techniques Slide-seq and Slide-seqV2, which bothhave fewer than or around 280 UMIs and 200 genes per spot.

E10.5 Mouse Embryo Spatial Transcriptome Mapping

Using E10.5 mouse embryo as a demonstration (FIG. 18A), we conductedDBiT-seq on two nearby sections from the same mouse, focusing on twodifferent regions: head (FFPE-1) and midbody (FFPE-2). Integratedclustering analysis of the two datasets using Seurat resulted in 10distinct clusters (FIG. 18B). Mapping the clusters back to their spatiallocation, we identified very strong spatially distinct patterns that arematching with tissue anatomical annotations (FIG. 18C). Cluster 0 mainlyrepresents the muscle structures in the embryo. Cluster 3 covers theneural tube, forehead and related nervous system. Cluster 4 is specificfor ganglions, which cover the both the ganglions in brain (FIG. 18Cleft) and dorsal root ganglions (FIG. 18C right). The high resolutionalso enabled us to see the individual bone pieces in the backbone(cluster 6). Liver is largely shown as cluster 7, whereas heart showedof two layers, with cluster 8 showing the myocardium and cluster 10showing the epicardium. Cluster 9 is also interesting, it is embeddedinside neural tube, which could be a special type of neurons. Thespatial clustering demonstrates the high resolution of DBiT-seq, whichcould resolve very fine structures. We further conducted GO analysis(FIG. 18D) for each cluster, the results matched well with theanatomical annotations. The top 10 differentially expressed genes (DEG)were also shown as heatmap (data not shown). We also conducted similaranalysis for each tissue separately and found consistent patterns (datanot shown). DEG for each cluster can be analyzed directly (data notshown). For example, Stmn2 and Mapt2, which encode microtubuleassociated proteins and are important for neuron development, mainlyexpressed in forebrain and neuro tube. Fabp7, a brain fatty acid bindingprotein encoding gene, expressed mainly at the hindbrain. Myosinassociated genes, Myl2, Myh7 and Myl3 were exclusively expressed inheart. Slc4a1, a gene related to blood coagulation, was highly expressedin liver, where most coagulation factors were produced. Copx, a hemebiosynthetic enzyme encoding gene, was also produced in liver. Afp, ahighly expressed gene in liver during the embryo development, was alsoobserved exclusively in liver.

We then applied SpatialDE, an unsupervised spatial patternidentification tool, to study the DBiT-seq data¹⁴. With defaultsettings, we identified 30 features for each of the two FFPE embryotissue (data not shown). GO analysis of the gene sets for each patternreviewed very meaningful results. For example, for FFPE-1, pattern 0representing neural precursor cell proliferation, whereas pattern 7 iscorrelated with eye morphogenesis. For FFPE-2, cluster 20 is specificfor heme metabolic process, and cluster 26 is for cardiac musclecontractions.

Integration with scRNA-Seq Reference

To annotate the cell type for each pixel, we performed integratedanalysis of our DBiT-seq mouse E10.5 embryo data with publishedscRNA-seq reference 15. We first compared the aggregated “pseudo bulk”data with reference by doing unsupervised clustering (FIG. 18E). TheDBiT-seq pixel data for both FFPE-1 and FFPE-2 lie closely with clustersof E10.5 scRNA-seq data, which proved that FFPE sample can show thecorrect embryonic age even with diminished gene numbers. We thenperformed the integrated analysis of FFPE spatial transcriptome datawith scRNA-seq reference using Seurat, with variation from technicalfactors removed using SCTransform¹⁶. The DBiT-seq pixels conformed quitewell with scRNA-seq data (FIG. 19A), enabling the transferring of celltype annotations from scRNA-seq data to our spatial pixels. The spatialmapping of the cell types was shown in FIG. 19D. In FFPE-1, cells incluster 3 are mainly oligodendrocytes. Epithelial cells (cluster 4) andneural epithelial cells (cluster 13) were distributed widely around thetissue. The distributions of excitatory neuron and inhibitory neuronsare quite alike, which is meaningful since they are both neurons onlyfunctionally different with neurotransmitters. In addition, cluster 14,the primitive erythroid cells that are crucial for the transition fromembryo to fetus in developing mammals, mainly appeared in liver regionof FFPE-2 appeared¹⁷. Cardiac muscle cells were also identifiedcorrectly in heart region. The integration analysis with publishedscRNA-seq data could provide more detailed biological identityinformation than general GO analysis, which would be preferred whenquality references are available.

Spatial Transcriptome Analysis of Adult Mouse Aorta

We next examined the FFPE aorta tissue section from an adult mouse (FIG.20A). The aorta is cross-sectioned, showing a thin wall of the arteryalong with the supporting tissue. The gene and UMI counts heatmap wereshown as FIG. 20B. Unsupervised clustering did not provide richinformation due to the lack of distinct tissue features and dominance ofcell types such as smooth muscle cells (data not shown). However, whenintegrated with aorta sc-RNAseq data from reference¹⁸, we can clearlyidentify six distinct cell types, including endothelial cells (ECs),arterial fibroblasts (Fibro), macrophages (Macro), monocytes (Mono),neurons and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). The majority of cellsare ECs, VSMCs and Fibros. We also noticed that there was a layer ofenriched smooth muscle cells in the artery wall, which reported to bethe main cell types in vascular tissue¹⁹. We also run the automatic cellannotation package SingleR briefly for the aorta sample with thebuilt-in reference for mouse single cell data (data not shown). It worthpointing out that adipocytes that normally exist in the supportingtissue around the artery can be readily identified. Meanwhile, theadipocytes specific genes Adipoq and Aoc3 were also found to express ata high level (data not shown).

Spatial Mapping of Atrium and Ventricle with DBiT-Seq

Lastly, we analyzed the cross sections of FFPE block of adult mouseatrium and ventricle using DBiT-seq (FIGS. 21A-21B). Althoughcardiomyocytes only account for 30-40% of the total cell numbers inheart, the volume fractions of cardiomyocytes can reach to 70-80%²⁰.Indeed, we observed the universal presence of muscle related Myh6 gene(data not shown), which encodes a protein known as the cardiac alpha(α)-myosin heavy chain. This high volume of cardiomyocytes will posechallenges for spatial transcriptome analysis by masking other celltypes. As is the case, unsupervised clustering of atrium and ventriclepixels using Seurat could not resolve distinct clusters (data notshown). However, when integrated with scRNA-seq references for mouseheart²¹, DBiT-seq pixels of atrium and ventricle conformed rather wellwith the reference, which showed a total of 14 clusters (FIGS. 21C,21E). The clusters were then annotated using the scRNA-seq cell typeinformation (data not shown). After annotation, we noticed thatcardiomyocytes were still the main cell types found across multipleclusters (FIGS. 21D, 21F), for example, cluster 1, cluster 4 and cluster8 in atrium. There are also a good number of endothelial cells. Othercell types, like stromal cells and macrophage were much less presented.

Conclusion

To conclude, we demonstrated DBiT-seq as a high-resolution tool for thespatial transcriptome analysis of FFPE tissue sections. It generatesuseful transcriptome data out of the highly degraded mRNAs. Applying itto mouse embryo tissue samples resulted in clear spatial patterns thatare matching well with anatomical patterns. Integration with publishedscRNA-seq data greatly improved our understanding of the tissue byproviding cell type information. Aorta, atrium and ventricle sampleswere also successfully profiled using DBiT-seq, providing detailed celltype information. As FFPE sample are easily available and more commonlyused in clinic, we envision that, with DBiT-seq, more in-depthunderstanding and analysis of clinically important samples would befeasible.

Methods for Examples 1-15 Microfluidic Device Fabrication and Assembly

The microfluidic device was fabricated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)using soft lithography. The chrome photomasks with 10 μm, 25 μm and 50μm channel width were ordered from the company Front Range Photomasks(Lake Havasu City, Ariz.). The molds were fabricated using SU-8 negativephotoresist according to the following microfabrication process. A thinlayer of SU-8 resist (SU-8 2010, SU-8 2025 and SU-8 2050, Microchem) wasspin-coated on a clean silicon wafer following manufacturer'sguidelines. The thickness of the resistant was ˜50 μm for the 50-μm-widemicrofluidic channel device, −28 μm for 25-μm-wide device, and −20 μmfor 10-μm-wide device. A protocol to perform SU-8 photo lithography,development, and hard baking was followed based on the manufacturer's(MicroChem) recommendations to yield the silicon molds for PDMSreplication.

PDMS microfluidic chips were then fabricated via a replication moldingprocess. The PDMS precursor was prepared by combining GE RTV PDMS part Aand part B at a 10:1 ratio. After stir mixing, degassing, this mixturewas poured to the mold described above, degassed again for 30 min, andcured at 75° C. for ˜2 hours or overnight. The solidified PDMS slab wascut out, peeled off, and the inlet and outlet holes were punched tocomplete the fabrication. The inlet holes were ˜2 mm in diameter, whichcan hold up to 13 μL of solution. A pair of microfluidic chips with thesame location of inlets and outlets but orthogonal microfluidic channelsin the center were fabricated as a complete set of devices for flowbarcoding a tissue slide. To do that, the PDMS slab was attached to thetissue section glass slides and a custom-designed acrylic clamp was usedto firmly hold the PDMS against the tissue specimen to prevent leakageacross microfluidic channels without the need for harsh bondingprocessed such as thermal bonding or plasma bonding (Temiz et al.,2015).

DNA Barcodes and Other Key Reagents

Oligos used were listed in Table S1 Antibody-Oligo sequences and TableS2 DNA oligos and DNA barcodes. All other key reagents used were listedas Table S3.

Tissue Handling

Formaldehyde fixed tissue or frozen tissue slides were obtained from acommercial source Zyagen (San Diego, Calif.). The protocol Zyagen usedto prepare the embryonic tissue slides is the following. The pregnantmice (C57BL/6NCrl) were bred and maintained by Charles RiverLaboratories. More information can be found in the information sheet.The time-pregnant mice (day 10 or day 12) were shipped to Zyagen (SanDiego, Calif.) the same day. The mice were sacrificed at the day ofarrival for embryos collection. The embryo sagittal frozen sections wereprepared by Zyagen (San Diego, Calif.) as following: the freshlydissected embryos were immersed into OCT and snapped frozen with liquidnitrogen. Before sectioning, the frozen tissue block was warmed to thetemperature of cryotome cryostat (−20° C.). Tissue block was thensectioned into thickness of ˜7 μm and placed in the center of apoly-L-lysine coated glass slide (CatLog no. 63478-AS, electronmicroscopy sciences). The frozen slides were then fixed with 4%formaldehyde or directly kept at −80° C. if a long-time storage isneeded.

Tissue Slides and Fixation

To thaw the tissue slides, they were taken out of the freezer, placed ona bench at room temperature for 10 minutes, and then cleaned with 1×phosphate buffer saline (PBS) supplemented with RNase inhibitor (0.05U/μL, Enzymatics). If the tissue slides were frozen sections, they werefirst fixed by immersing in 4% formaldehyde (Sigma) for 20 minutes.Afterwards, the tissue slides were dried with forced nitrogen air andthen ready to use for spatial barcoding.

Tissue Histology and H&E Staining

An adjacent tissue section was also requested from the same commercialresource which could be used to perform tissue histology examinationusing H&E staining. Basically, the fixed tissue slide was first cleanedby DI water, and the nuclei were stained with the alum hematoxylin(Sigma) for 2 minutes. Afterwards, the slides were cleaned in DI wateragain and incubated in a bluing reagent (0.3% acid alcohol, Sigma) for45 seconds at room temperature. Finally, the slides were stained witheosin for 2 more minutes. The stained embryo slide was examinedimmediately or stored at −80° C. fridge for future analysis.

Immunofluorescence Staining

Immunofluorescence staining was performed either on the same tissueslide or an adjacent slide to yield validation data. Threefluorescent-labelled antibodies listed below were used for visualizingthe expression of three target proteins: Alexa Fluor 647 anti-mouseCD326 (Ep-CAM) Antibody, Alexa Fluor 488 anti-mouse Panendothelial CellAntigen Antibody, PE anti-P2RY12 Antibody. The procedure to stain themouse embryo tissue slide is as follows. (1) Fix the fresh frozen tissuesections with 4% Formaldehyde for 20 mins, wash three times with PBS.(2) Add 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA) in PBS to block the tissue andincubate for 30 mins at RT. (3) Wash the tissue with PBS for threetimes. (4) Add the mixture of three antibodies (final concentration 25μg/mL in 1% BSA, PBS) to the tissue, need around 50 μL. Incubate for 1hour in dark at RT. (5) Wash the tissue with PBS for three times, with 5mins washing each time. (6) Dip the tissue in water shortly and air drythe tissue. (7) Image the tissue using EVOS (Thermo Fisher EVOS fl), ata magnification of 10×. Filters used are Cy5, RFP and GFP.

Application of DNA-Antibody Conjugates to the Tissue Slide

In order to obtain spatial proteomic information, we incubated the fixedtissue slide with a cocktail of DNA-antibody conjugates prior tomicrofluidic spatial barcoding. The cocktail was prepared by combining0.1 μg of each DNA-antibody conjugates (see Table S1). The tissue slidewas first blocked with 1% BSA/PBS plus RNase inhibitor, and thenincubated with the cocktail for 30 minutes at 4° C. Afterwards, thetissue slide was washed 3 times with a washing buffer containing 1%BSA+0.01% Tween 20 in 1×PBS and one time with DI water prior toattaching the first PDMS microfluidic chip.

Adding the First Set of Barcodes and Reverse Transcription

To perform spatial barcoding of mRNAs for transcriptomic mapping, theslides were blocked by 1% BSA plus RNase inhibitor (0.05 U/μL,Enzymatics) for 30 minutes at room temperature. After cleaning with1×PBS and quickly with DI water, the first PDMS microfluidic chip wasroughly aligned and placed on the tissue glass slide such that thecenter of the flow barcoding region covered the tissue of interest. Thistissue section was then permeabilized by loading 0.5% Triton X-100 inPBS into each of the 50 channels followed by incubation for 20 minutesand finally were cleaned thoroughly by flowing through 20 μL of 1×PBS. Avial of RT mix was made from 50 μL of RT buffer (5×, Maxima H Minuskit), 32.8 μL of RNase free water, 1.6 μL of RNase Inhibitor(Enzymatics), 3.1 μL of SuperaseIn RNase Inhibitor (Ambion), 12.5 μL ofdNTPs (10 mM, Thermo Fisher), 25 μL of Reverse Transcriptase (ThermoFisher), 100 μL of 0.5×PBS with Inhibitor (0.05 U/μL, Enzymatics). Toperform the 1^(st) microfluidic flow barcoding, we added to each inset a5 μL of solution containing 4.5 μL of the RT mix described and 0.5 μL ofone of the 50 DNA barcodes (A1-A50) solution (25 μM), and then pulled inusing a house vacuum for <3 minutes depending on channel width.Afterwards, the binding of DNA oligomers to mRNAs fixed in tissue wasallowed to occur at room temperature for 30 minutes and then incubatedat 42° C. for 1.5 hours for in situ reverse transcription. To preventthe evaporation of solution inside the channels, the whole device waskept inside a sealed wet chamber (Gervais and Delamarche, 2009).Finally, the channels were rinsed by flowing NEB buffer 3.1 (1×, NewEngland Biolabs) supplemented with 1% RNase inhibitor (Enzymatics)continuously for 10 minutes. During the flow barcoding step, opticalimages could be taken to record the exact positions of thesemicrofluidic channels in relation to the tissue section subjected tospatial barcoding. It was done using an EVOS microscope (Thermo FisherEVOS fl) in a light or dark field mode. Then the clamp was removed andthe PDMS chip was detached from the tissue slide, which was subsequentlydipped into a 50 mL Eppendorf tube containing RNase free water to rinseoff remaining salts.

Adding the Second Set of Barcodes and Ligation

After drying the tissue slides, the second PDMS chip with themicrofluidic channels perpendicular to the direction of the first PDMSchip in the tissue barcoding region was carefully aligned and attachedto the tissue slide such that the microfluidic channels cover the tissueregion of interest. The ligation mix was prepared as follows: 69.5 μL ofRNase free water, 27 μL of T4 DNA ligase buffer (10×, New EnglandBiolabs), 11 μL T4 DNA ligase (400 U/μL, New England Biolabs), 2.2 μLRNase inhibitor (40 U/μL, Enzymatics), 0.7 μL SuperaseIn RNase Inhibitor(20 U/μL, Ambion), 5.4 μL of Triton X-100 (5%). To perform the secondflow barcoding, we added to each channel a total of 5 μL of solutionconsisting of 2 μL of the aforementioned ligation mix, 2 μL of NEBbuffer 3.1 (1×, New England Biolabs) and 1 μL of DNA barcode B (25 μM).Reaction was allowed to occur at 37° C. for 30 minutes and then themicrofluidic channels were washed by flowing 1×PBS supplemented with0.1% Triton X-100 and 0.25% SUPERase In RNase Inhibitor for 10 minutes.Again, the images showing the location of the microfluidic channels onthe tissue slide could be taken during the flow step under the light ordark field optical microscope (Thermo Fisher EVOS fl) before peeling offthe second PDMS chip.

cDNA Collection and Purification

We devised a square well PDMS gasket, which could be aligned and placedon the tissue slide, creating an open reservoir to load lysis bufferspecifically to the flow barcoded tissue region to collect cDNAs ofinterest. Depending on the area of this region, the typical amount ofbuffer is 10-100 μL of Proteinase K lysis solution, which contains 2mg/mL proteinase K (Thermo Fisher), 10 mM Tris (pH=8.0), 200 mM NaCl, 50mM EDTA and 2% SDS. Lysis was carried out at 55° C. for 2 hours. Thelysate was then collected and stored at −80° C. prior to use. The cDNAsin the lysate were purified using streptavidin beads (Dynabeads MyOneStreptavidin C1 beads, Thermo Fisher). The beads (40 μL) were firstwashed three times with 1×B&W buffer (Ref to manufacturer's manual) with0.05% Tween-20, and then stored in 100 μL of 2×B&W buffer (with 2 μL ofSUPERase In Rnase Inhibitor). To perform purification from stored tissuelysate, it was allowed to thaw, and the volume was brought up to 100 μLby RNase free water. Then, 5 μL of PMSF (100 μM, Sigma) was added to thelysate and incubated for 10 minutes at room temperature to inhibit theactivity of Proteinase K. Next, 100 μL of the cleaned streptavidin beadsuspension was added to the lysate and incubated for 60 minutes withgentle rotating. The beads with cDNA were further cleaned with 1×B&Wbuffer for two times and then with 1×Tris buffer (with 0.1% Tween-20)once.

Template Switch and PCR Amplification

The cDNAs bound to beads were cleaned and resuspended into the templateswitch solution. The template switch reaction mix contains 44 μL of 5×Maxima RT buffer (Thermo Fisher), 44 μL of 20% Ficoll PM-400 solution(Sigma), 22 μL of 10 mM dNTPs each (Thermo Fisher), 5.5 μL of RNaseInhibitor (Enzymatics), 11 μL of Maxima H Minus Reverse Transcriptase(Thermo Fisher), and 5.5 μL of a template switch primer (100 μM). Thereaction was conducted at room temperature for 30 minutes followed by anadditional incubation at 42° C. for 90 minutes. The beads were rinsedonce with a buffer containing 10 mM Tris and 0.1% Tween-20 and thenrinsed again with RNase free water using a magnetic separation process.PCR was conducted following these two steps. In the first step, amixture of 110 μL Kapa HiFi HotStart Master Mix (Kapa Biosystems), 8.8μL of 10 μM stocks of primers 1 and 2, and 92.4 μL of water was added tothe cleaned beads. If the protein detection was conducted in conjunctionusing a process similar to CITE-seq, a primer 3 solution (1.1 μL, 10 μM)was also added at this step. PCR reaction was then done using thefollowing conditions: first incubate at 95° C. for 3 mins, then cyclefive times at 98° C. for 20 seconds, 65° C. for 45 seconds, 72° C. for 3minutes and then the beads were removed from the solution by magnet.Evagreen (20×, Biotium) was added to the supernatant with 1:20 ratio,and a vial of the resultant solution was loaded into a qPCR machine(BioRad) to perform a second PCR step with an initial incubation at 95°C. for 3 minutes, then cycled at 98° C. for 20 seconds, 65° C. for 20seconds, and finally 72° C. for 3 minutes. The reaction was stopped whenthe fluorescence signal just reached the plateau.

Amplicon Purification, Sequencing Library Preparation and QualityAssessment

The PCR product was then purified by Ampure XP beads (Beckman Coulter)at 0.6× ratio. The mRNA-derived cDNAs (>300 bp) were then collected fromthe beads. If the cDNAs were less than 300 bp, they remained in thesupernatant fraction. If the protein detection was conducted likeCITE-seq, this fraction was used instead. For sequencing antibody-DNAconjugate-derived cDNAs, we further purified the supernatant using 2×Ampure XP beads. The purified cDNA was then amplified using a PCRreaction mix containing 45 μL purified cDNA fraction, 50 μL 2×KAPA HifiPCR Master Mix (Kapa Biosystems), 2.5 μl P7 primer of 10 μM and 2.5 μLP5 cite primer at 10 μM. PCR was performed in the following conditions:first incubated at 95° C. for 3 minutes, then cycled at 95° C. for 20seconds, 60° C. for 30 seconds and 72° C. for 20 seconds, for 10 cycles,lastly 72° C. for 5 minutes. The PCR product was further purified by1.6× Ampure XP beads. For sequencing mRNA-derived cDNAs, the quality ofamplicon was analyzed firstly using Qubit (Life Technologies) and thenusing an Agilent Bioanalyzer High Sensitivity Chip. The sequencinglibrary was then built with a Nextera XT kit (Illumina) and sequencedusing a HiSeq 4000 sequencer using a pair-end 100×100 mode. To conductjoint profiling of proteins and mRNAs, the DNA-antibodyconjugate-derived sequencing library was combined with mRNA-derived cDNAlibrary at a 1:9 ratio, which is sufficient to detect the finite set ofproteins and minimally affects the sequencing depth required for mRNAs.

Tissue Fluorescent Staining Before DBiT-Seq

Fluorescent staining of tissue sections with either common nucleusstaining dyes or fluorescent labelled antibodies can be performed beforethe DBiT-seq to facilitate the identification of tissue region ofinterest. After the DBiT-seq fixation procedure with formaldehyde, thewhole tissue was permeabilized with 0.5% Triton X-100 in PBS for 20minutes and cleaned with 1×PBS for three times. Working solution mixtureof DAPI and phalloidin (FITC labelled) were added on top of the tissueand then incubate at room temperature for 20 minutes. After washingthrice with 1×PBS, tissue sections were blocked with 1% BSA for 30minutes. Finally, antibody with fluorescent labels (here we use P2RY12)were added and incubated at room temperature for 1 hour. Images of thetissue were taken using EVOS microscope (Thermo Fisher EVOS fl), using10× objective. Filters used were DAPI, GFP and RFP. DBiT-seq barcodingprocedure could be continued after staining.

smFISH and Comparison with DBiT-Seq

Single molecular fish (smFISH) was performed using HCR v3.0 kit(Molecular Instruments, Inc) following manufacture protocols. Probesused in current study included Ttn, sfrp2, Trf and Dlk1. smFISH z-stackimages were taken using a ZEISS LSM 880 confocal microscope with a 60×oil immersion objective. The smFISH quantitation was performed usingFISH-quant (https://biii.eu/fish-quant). mRNA transcript count was anaverage of three fields of view with each having a size of 306×306 μm.The sum of DBiT-seq transcript counts in the same locations were alsocalculated and compared side by side with smFISH counts.

Cell Number Counting in Each Pixel

Cell numbers for each pixel were counted manually using DAPI andethidium homodimer-1 stained tissue images (Figure S1B). The total cellcounts were obtained by summing the nucleus numbers in each of thepixels. If a nucleus appeared at the edge of a pixel, we would count itas 1 if more than half of the nucleus lied within the pixel and as 0 ifotherwise. A total of 50 pixels were counted and the averaged numberswere reported.

Quantification and Statistical Analysis Sequence Alignment andGeneration of Gene Expression Matrix

To obtain transcriptomics data, the Read 2 was processed by extractingthe UMI, Barcode A and Barcode B. The processed read 1 was trimmed,mapped against the mouse genome (GRCh38), demultiplexed and annotated(Gencode release M11) using the ST pipeline v1.7.2 (Navarro et al.,2017), which generated the digital gene expression matrix fordown-stream analysis. The rows of the gene matrix correspond to pixels,defined by their location info (barcode A×barcode B) and columnscorrespond to genes.

For proteomics data, the Read 2 was processed by extracting theantibody-derived barcode, spatial Barcode A and Barcode B. The processedread was trimmed, demultiplexed using the ST pipeline v1.7.2 (Navarro etal., 2017), which generated the gene protein matrix for down-streamanalysis. Similar to the gene expression matrix, the rows correspond topixels, defined by (barcode A×barcode B) and columns correspond toproteins.

The pan-mRNA and pan-protein heatmap plots in FIG. 2A were generatedusing raw UMI counts without normalization.

Data Normalization and Integration

Normalization and variance stabilization of transcriptome data for eachpixel with regularized negative binomial regression was performed using“SCTransform”, a module in Seurat V3.2. The process is similar to thatwidely used for scRNA-seq data normalization, with each “pixel” treatedas a “single cell”. The expression matrix of all pixels wasSCTransformed (“NormalizeData”, “ScaleData”, and“FindVariableFeatures”). The integration of scRNA-seq reference data andspatial transcriptome data was conducted using Seurat V3.2 with the“SCTransform” module. Normalization of gene data was completed throughScran (V3.11) following a standard protocol as recommended in Seuratpackage.

Clustering Analysis

Spatially variable genes were identified by SpatialDE (Svensson et al.,2018b). The resulting list of differentially expressed genes wassubmitted to ToppGene (Chen et al., 2009) for GO and Pathway enrichmentanalysis. Spatially variable genes generated by SpatialDE were used toconduct the clustering analysis. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF)was performed using the NNLM packages in R, after the raw expressionvalues were log-transformed. We chose k of 11 for the mouse embryoDBiT-seq transcriptome data obtained at a 50 μm pixel size. For eachpixel, the largest factor loading from NMF was used to assign clustermembership. NMF clustering of pixels was plotted by tSNE using thepackage “Rtsne” in R.

Comparison with ENCODE Bulk Sequencing Data

Public bulk RNA-Seq datasets were downloaded from ENCODE (liver, heartand neural tube from mouse embryo E11.5) and the raw expression countswere normalized with FPKM. For DBiT-seq data, “pseudo-bulk” geneexpression profiles were obtained by summing counts for each gene ineach tissue region and divided by the sum of total UMI counts in thisspecific region, and further multiplied by 1 million. The scatter plotswere plotted using log₁₀(FPKM+1) value for bulk data and log 10(pseudogene expression+1)) for DBiT-seq data. Pairwise Pearson correlationcoefficients were calculated. Good correlations (r>0.784) were observedbetween the two different sets of data.

Gene Length Bias Analysis

Gene length bias is well understood in bulk RNA-seq data. We furtheranalyzed our DBiT-seq data and ST data using reference packageGeneLengthBias for RNAseq data (Phipson et al., 2019) following standardprotocols.

Data Analysis with Single-Cell RNA-Seq Analysis Workflow

The data analysis of E10-E12 tissue sections was carried out with SeuratV3.2 (Butler et al., 2018; Stuart et al., 2019) following standardprocedures. In short, data normalization, transformation, and selectionof variable genes were performed using the SCTransform function withdefault settings. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed onthe top 3,000 variable genes using the RunPCA function, and the first 30principal components were used for Shared Nearest Neighbor (SNN) graphconstruction using the FindNeighbors function. Clusters were thenidentified using the FindClusters function. We used Uniform ManifoldApproximation and Projection (UMAP) to visualize DBiT-seq data in areduced two-dimensional space (McInnes et al., 2018). To identifydifferentially expressed genes for every cluster, pair-wise comparisonsof cells in individual clusters against all remaining cells wereperformed using the FindAllMarkers function (settings: min.pct=0.25,logfc.threshold=0.25). Expression heatmap was then generated using top10 differentially expressed genes in each cluster.

Integrative Data Analysis and Cell Type Identification

Automatic cell type identification for E11 mouse tail region wasachieved with SingleR (version 1.2.3) (Aran et al., 2019) followingstandard procedure. Single cell RNA-seq data E10.5 from (Cao et al.,2019) was used as the reference. The 12 most frequent cell types wereshown in the UMAP, and cell types with small size were shown as “other”.

Cell type identification for E10 Eye region was performed throughintegration with scRNA-seq reference data. We combined DBiT-seq datawith scRNA-seq data of mouse embryo E9.5 and E10.5 (Cao et al., 2019)using Seurat V3.2 and did the clustering after “SCTransform” procedure.DBiT-seq data showed a similar distribution as scRNA-seq reference data.We then assign each cluster with a cell type using cell type informationfrom the reference data (if two cell types presented in one cluster, themajor cell types were assigned). The cell type of each pixel was thenassigned by their cluster number.

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TABLE 1 SEQ Bar- Barcode ID code Specificity Clone Sequence NO: 0012CD117(c-kit) 2B8 TGCATGTCATCGGTG 1 0078 CD49d RI-2 CGCTTGGACGCTTAA 20096 CD45 30-F11 TGGCTATGGAGCAGA 3 0104 CD 102 3C4 GATATTCAGTGCGAC 4(MIC2/4) 0115 FcϵRIα MAR-1 AGTCACCTCGAAGCT 5 0118 NK-1.1 PK136GTAACATTACTCGTC 6 0119 Siglec H 551 CCGCACCTACATTAG 7 0122 TER-119/TER-119 GCGCGTTTGTGCTAT 8 Erythroid Cells 0130 Ly-6A/E D7TTCCTTTCCTACGCA 9 (Sca-1) 0232 MAdCAM-1 MECA-367 TTGGGCGATTAAGAA 10 0381Panendothelial MECA-32 CGTCCTAGTCATTGG 11 Cell Antigen 0415 P2RY12S16007D TTGCTTATTTCCGCA 12 0439 CD201 (EPCR) RCR-16 TATGATCTGCCCTTG 130442 Notch 1 HMN1-12 TCCGGTCACTCAGTA 14 0443 CD41 MWReg30ACTTGGATGGACACT 15 0449 CD326 G8.8 ACCCGCGTTAGTATG 16 (Ep-CAM) 0552CD304 3E12 CCAGCTCATTCAACG 17 (Neuropilin-1) 0553 CD309 Avasl2ATAAGAGCCCACCAT 18 (VEGFR2, Flk-1) 0558 CD55 (DAF) RIKO-3ATTGTTGTCAGACCA 19 0559 CD63 NVG-2 ATCCGACACGTATTA 20 0564 Folate 10/FR2CTCAGATGCCCTTTA 21 Receptor β (FR-β) 0596 ESAM 1G8/ESAM TATAGTTTCCGCCGT22

TABLE 2 Reagents and Resources REAGENT or RESOURCE SOURCE IDENTIFIERAntibodies Alexa Fluor ® 647 anti-mouse CD326 (Ep-CAM) AntibodyBiolegend 118212 Alexa Fluor ® 488 anti-mouse Panendothelial CellBiolegend 120506 Antigen Antibody PE anti-P2RY12 Antibody Biolegend848004 TotalSeq antibodies Biolegend Biological Samples Mouse C57 EmbryoSagittal Frozen Sections, E10 Zyagen MF-104-10-C57 Mouse C57 EmbryoSagittal Frozen Sections, E12 Zyagen MF-104-12-C57 Chemicals, Peptides,and Recombinant Proteins Maxima H Minus Reverse Transcriptase (200 U/L)Thermo Fisher Scientific EP0751 dNTP mix Thermo Fisher Scientific R0192RNase Inhibitor Enzymatics Y9240L SUPERase• In ™ RNase Inhibitor ThermoFisher Scientific AM2694 T4 DNA Ligase New England Biolabs M0202L AmpureXP beads Beckman Coulter A63880 Dynabeads MyOne C1 Thermo FisherScientific 65001 Proteinase K, recombinant, PCR grade Thermo FisherScientific EO0491 Kapa Hotstart HiFi ReadyMix Kapa Biosystems KK2601Formaldehyde solution Sigma F8775-25ML NEBuffer3.1 New England BiolabsB7203S T4 DNA Ligase Reaction Buffer New England Biolabs B0202S PMSFSigma 10837091001 Evagreen Dye, 20X in water Biotium 31000-T CriticalCommercial Assays Nextera XT DNA Preparation Kit FC-131-1024 IlluminaDeposited Data Oligonucleotides Primers, Ligation linkers, DNA barcodesIDT See Tables 3 and 4 Software and Algorithms

TABLE 3 DNA oligos used for PCR and preparation of sequencing library.SEQ ID NOS: 23-31 (top to bottom) Oligo Name Sequence PCR PrimerCAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCT 1 PCR Primer AAGCAGTGGTATCAACGCAGAGT 2 LigationCGAATGCTCTGGCCTCTCAAGCA Linker CGTGGAT Template AAGCAGTGGTATCAACGCAGAGTSwitch GAATrGrG+G Oligo P5 oligo AATGATACGGCGACCACCGAGATCTACACTAGATCGCTCGTCGGCAGC GTCAGATGTGTATAAGAGACAG P7 oligoCAAGCAGAAGACGGCATACGAGAT (701) TCGCCTTAGTCTCGTGGGCTCGGAGATGTGTATAAGAGACAGCAAGCG TTGGCTTCTCGCATCT P7 oligoCAAGCAGAAGACGGCATACGAGAT (702) CTAGTACGGTCTCGTGGGCTCGGAGATGTGTATAAGAGACAGCAAGC GTTGGCTTCTCGCATCT P7 oligoCAAGCAGAAGACGGCATACGAGAT (703) TTCTGCCTGTCTCGTGGGCTCGGAGATGTGTATAAGAGACAGCAAGCG TTGGCTTCTCGCATCT P7 oligoCAAGCAGAAGACGGCATACGAGAT (704) GCTCAGGAGTCTCGTGGGCTCGGAGATGTGTATAAGAGACAGCAAGC GTTGGCTTCTCGCATCT

TABLE 4 DNA barcode sequences. SEQ ID NOS: 32-131 (top to bottom)1st Barcode Sequence Barcode A-1 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAACGTGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-2 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAAACATCGTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-3 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGATGCCTAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-4 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAGTGGTCATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-5 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGACCACTGTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-6 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGACATTGGCTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-7 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCAGATCTGTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-8 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCATCAAGTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-9 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCGCTGATCTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-10 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGACAAGCTATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-11 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCTGTAGCCTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-12 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAGTACAAGTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-13 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAACAACCATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-14 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAACCGAGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-15 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAACGCTTATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-16 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAAGACGGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-17 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAAGGTACATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-18 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGACACAGAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-19 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGACAGCAGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-20 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGACCTCCAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-21 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGACGCTCGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-22 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGACGTATCATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-23 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGACTATGCATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-24 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAGAGTCAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-25 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAGATCGCATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-26 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAGCAGGAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-27 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGAGTCACTATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-28 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGATCCTGTATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-29 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGATTGAGGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-30 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCAACCACATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-31 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGGACTAGTATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-32 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCAATGGAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-33 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCACTTCGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-34 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCAGCGTTATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-35 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCATACCAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-36 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCCAGTTCATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-37 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCCGAAGTATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-38 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCCGTGAGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-39 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCCTCCTGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-40 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCGAACTTATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-41 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCGACTGGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-42 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCGCATACATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-43 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCTCAATGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-44 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCTGAGCCATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-45 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCTGGCATATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-46 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGGAATCTGATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-47 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGCAAGACTATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-48 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGGAGCTGAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-49 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGGATAGACATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N Barcode A-50 /5Phos/AGGCCAGAGCATTCGGCCACATATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTV N 2nd Barcode Barcode B-1/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAACGT GATATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-2 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAAACATCGATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-3 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNATGCCT AAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-4/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAGTGG TCAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-5 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNACCACTGTATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-6 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNACATTG GCATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-7/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCAGAT CTGATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-8 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCATCAAGTATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-9 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCGCTG ATCATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-10/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNACAAG CTAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-11 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCTGTAGGCATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-12 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAGTAC AAGATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-13/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAACAA CCAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-14 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAACCGAGAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-15 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAACGC TTAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-16/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAAGAC GGAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-17 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAAGGTACAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-18 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNACACA GAAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-19/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNACAGC AGAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-20 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNACCTCCAAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-21 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNACGCTC GAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-22/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNACGTAT CAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-23 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNACTATGCAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-24 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAGAGT CAAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-25/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAGATC GCAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-26 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAGCAGGAAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-27 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNAGTCA CTAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-28/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNATCCTG TAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-29 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNATTGAGGAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-30 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCAACC ACAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-31/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNGACTA GTAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-32 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCAATGGAAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-33 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCACTTC GAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-34/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCAGCG TTAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-35 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCATACCAAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-36 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCCAGTT CAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-37/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCCGAA GTAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-38 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCCGTGAGAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-39 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCCTCCT GAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-40/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCGAAC TTAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-41 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCGACTGGAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-42 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCGCAT ACAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-43/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCTCAAT GAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-44 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCTGAGCCAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-45 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCTGGC ATAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-46/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNGAATCT GAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-47 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNCAAGACTAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-48 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCTCGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNGAGCT GAAATCCACGTGCTTGAG Barcode B-49/5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNGATAG ACAATCCACGTGCTTGAGBarcode B-50 /5Biosg/CAAGCGTTGGCTTCT CGCATCTNNNNNNNNNNGCCACATAATCCACGTGCTTGAG

All references, patents and patent applications disclosed herein areincorporated by reference with respect to the subject matter for whicheach is cited, which in some cases may encompass the entirety of thedocument.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

It should also be understood that, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, in any methods claimed herein that include more than one stepor act, the order of the steps or acts of the method is not necessarilylimited to the order in which the steps or acts of the method arerecited.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitionalphrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are tobe understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limitedto. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases,respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual ofPatent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.

The terms “about” and “substantially” preceding a numerical valuemean±10% of the recited numerical value.

Where a range of values is provided, each value between the upper andlower ends of the range are specifically contemplated and describedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: (a) delivering to a regionof interest in a fixed section of a mammalian tissue mounted on asubstrate a first set of barcoded polynucleotides that bind to nucleicacids of the fixed tissue section, wherein the first set of barcodedpolynucleotides is delivered through a first microfluidic device clampedto the region of interest, wherein the first microfluidic devicecomprises 5-50 variable width microchannels, each having (i) an inletport and an outlet port, (ii) a width of 50-150 μm at the inlet port andat the outlet port, and (iii) a width of 10-50 μm at the region ofinterest; (b) delivering to the region of interest reverse transcriptionreagents to produce cDNAs linked to barcoded polynucleotides of thefirst set; (c) delivering to the region of interest a second set ofbarcoded polynucleotides, wherein the second set of barcodedpolynucleotides is delivered through a second microfluidic deviceclamped to the region of interest, wherein the second microfluidicdevice comprises 5-50 variable width microchannels, each having (i) aninlet port and an outlet port, (ii) a width of 50-150 μm at the inletport and at the outlet port, and (iii) a width of 10-50 μm at the regionof interest, wherein the second microfluidic device is oriented on theregion of interest perpendicular to the direction of the microchannelsof the first microfluidic device; (d) delivering to the region ofinterest ligation reagents to join barcoded polynucleotides of the firstset to barcoded polynucleotides of the second set; (e) imaging theregion of interest to produce a sample image; (f) delivering to theregion of interest lysis buffer or denaturation reagents to produce alysed or denatured tissue sample; and (g) extracting cDNA from the lysedor denatured tissue sample.
 2. A method, comprising: (a) delivering to aregion of interest in a fixed section of a mammalian tissue mounted on asubstrate binder-DNA tag conjugates that comprise (i) a binder moleculethat specifically binds to a protein of interest and (ii) a DNA tag,wherein the DNA tag comprises a binder barcode and a polyA sequence; (b)delivering to the region of interest a first set of barcodedpolynucleotides that bind to nucleic acids of the fixed tissue section,wherein the first set of barcoded polynucleotides is delivered through afirst microfluidic device clamped to the region of interest, optionallywherein the first microfluidic device comprises 5-50 variable widthmicrochannels, each having (i) an inlet port and an outlet port, (ii) awidth of 50-150 μm at the inlet port and at the outlet port, and (iii) awidth of 10-50 μm at the region of interest; (c) delivering to theregion of interest reverse transcription reagents to produce cDNAslinked to barcoded polynucleotides of the first set; (d) delivering tothe region of interest a second set of barcoded polynucleotides, whereinthe second set of barcoded polynucleotides is delivered through a secondmicrofluidic device clamped to the region of interest, optionallywherein the second microfluidic device comprises 5-50 variable widthmicrochannels, each having (i) an inlet port and an outlet port, (ii) awidth of 50-150 μm at the inlet port and at the outlet port, and (iii) awidth of 10-50 μm at the region of interest, wherein the secondmicrofluidic device is oriented on the region of interest perpendicularto the direction of the microchannels of the first microfluidic device;(e) delivering to the region of interest ligation reagents to joinbarcoded polynucleotides of the first set to barcoded polynucleotides ofthe second set; (f) imaging the region of interest to produce a sampleimage; (g) delivering to the region of interest lysis buffer ordenaturation reagents to produce a lysed or denatured tissue sample; and(h) extracting cDNA from the lysed or denatured tissue sample.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 or 2 further comprising sequencing the cDNA to producecDNA reads.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the sequencing comprisestemplate switching the cDNAs to add a second PCR handle end sequence atan end opposite from the first PCR handle end sequence, amplifying thecDNAs, producing sequencing constructs via tagmentation, and sequencingthe sequencing constructs to produce the cDNA reads.
 5. The method ofclaim 3 or 4 further comprising constructing a spatial molecularexpression map of the tissue section by matching the spatiallyaddressable barcoded conjugates to corresponding cDNA reads.
 6. Themethod of claim 5 further comprising identifying the anatomical locationof the nucleic acids by correlating the spatial molecular expression mapto the sample image.
 7. The method of any one of the preceding claims,wherein the fixed tissue section mounted on a slide is produced by:sectioning a formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue, optionallyinto a 5-10 μm section and mounting the tissue section onto a substrate,optionally a poly-L-lysine-coated slide; applying to the tissue sectiona wash solution, optionally a xylene solution, to deparaffinize thetissue section; applying to the tissue section a rehydration solution torehydrate the tissue section; applying to the tissue section anenzymatic solution, optionally a proteinase K solution, to permeabilizethe tissue section; and applying formalin to the tissue section topost-fix the tissue section.
 8. The method of any one of the precedingclaims, wherein the first and/or second microfluidic device isfabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).
 9. The method of any one ofthe preceding claims, wherein first and/or second microfluidic devicecomprises 40 to 60, optionally 50 microchannels.
 10. The method of anyone of the preceding claims, wherein each microchannel of the first andsecond microfluidic device has a width of 10 μm and a height of 12-15μm, a width of 25 μm and height of 17-22 μm, or a width of 50 μm and aheight of 20-100 μm.
 11. The method of any one of the preceding claims,wherein delivery of the first set of barcoded polynucleotides isdelivered through the first microfluidic device using a negativepressure system and/or delivery of the second set of barcodedpolynucleotides is delivered through the second microfluidic deviceusing a negative pressure system.
 12. The method of any one of thepreceding claims, wherein the lysis buffer or denaturation reagents aredelivered directly to the tissue section, optionally through a hole in adevice clamped to the substrate, wherein the hole is positioned directlyabove the region of interest.
 13. The method of any one of the precedingclaims, wherein the barcoded polynucleotides of the first set comprise aligation linker sequence, a spatial barcode sequence, and a polyTsequence.
 14. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein thebarcoded polynucleotides of the second set comprise a ligation linkersequence, a spatial barcode sequence, a unique molecular identifier(UMI) sequence, and a first PCR handle end sequence, optionally whereinthe first PCR handle end sequence is terminally functionalized withbiotin.
 15. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein thefirst and/or second set of barcoded polynucleotides comprises at least50 barcoded polynucleotides.
 16. The method of any one of claims 2-15,wherein the binder molecule is an antibody, optionally selected fromwhole antibodies, Fab antibody fragments, F(ab′)₂ antibody fragments,monospecific Fab₂ fragments, bispecific Fab₂ fragments, trispecific Fab₃fragments, single chain variable fragments (scFvs), bispecificdiabodies, trispecific diabodies, scFv-Fc molecules, and minibodies. 17.The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nucleic acidsof the biological sample are selected from (i) ribonucleic acids (RNAs),optionally messenger RNAs (mRNAs), and (ii) deoxyribonucleic acids(DNAs), optionally genomic DNAs (gDNAs).
 18. The method of any one ofthe preceding claims, wherein (i) barcoded polynucleotides of the secondset are bound to a universal ligation linker, or (ii) the method furthercomprises delivering to the biological sample a universal ligationlinker sequence, wherein the universal ligation linker comprises asequence complementary to the ligation linker sequence of the barcodedpolynucleotides of the first set and comprises a sequence complementaryto the ligation linker sequence of the barcoded polynucleotides of thesecond set.
 19. The method of any one of the preceding claims, whereinthe imaging is with an optical or fluorescence microscope.
 20. Themethod of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the substrate is amicroscope slide, optionally a glass microscope slide, optionallypoly-amine-coated, and optionally having dimensions of 25 mm×75 mm. 21.A microfluidic device, comprising 5-50 variable width microchannels,each having (i) an inlet port and an outlet port, (ii) a width of 50-150μm at the inlet port and at the outlet port, and (iii) a width of 10-50μm at the region of interest.